Ianto Jones Child of the Rift
by tstul006
Summary: This is the story of Ianto Jones. He is just a normal guy, well except for the fact that he is a child of the rift. Oh and he works for a secret organization that catches aliens. This is basically my COE fix-it. It starts out pre-series but will eventually be with cannon. Rating for future chapters. read it. I promise you'll love it. :) Jack/Ianto Ch. 1 has now been Beta Read.
1. Chapter 1

AN: You have my Beta Inusagi to thank for this revamp of this chapter. And I have her to thank as well!

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

Spoilers: none

Warnings: none

Ianto Jones looked out the window of the cab to the Victorian-styled house. He had been here before, but it had been six years ago. He sighed deeply and handed the cabbie his fare with a mumbled thank you. He extracted himself from the car and walked slowly up to the door.

To say he was nervous would be an extreme understatement.

He had been on a four month hiatus from all other Rift Children, and for the last two he knew he was being watched. As if he wouldn't know, as if he couldn't sense them.

The last time he was here he had been sixteen and had known nothing of how "blessed" he was. _Ha_, he thought. _More like cursed_.

If he closed his eyes he could still feel the man's hand on his arm pulling him away from the bus shelter and into an alleyway. It had happened so fast he hadn't had time to panic.

"I'm not going to hurt you," the man had said. He continued to pull Ianto along the alley to a parked Land Rover. He deposited Ianto into the passenger seat and drove him to the Victorian house he was presently standing in front of.

It had been only the beginning of the cursed life he would lead.

Ianto shook himself out of his flashback and rang the doorbell. After a minute, the large door opened to reveal a muscular man who appeared to be in his early thirties. The man looked at Ianto like he was undressing him with his striking green eyes. Ianto faked a cough.

"Jason," he said in his ever polite tone. "It's good to see you. What's it been? Three years?"

"No need to lie, Jones," Jason said, as he lead Ianto into the house and took his overcoat. "I know how much you despise me."

Ianto faced Jason and bit his lip to keep himself from stating how true Jason's statement was. Jason took a step closer to Ianto. _Too close_, Ianto thought when Jason slowly raised his hand and cupped it under the younger man's chin. He ran his thumb gently along Ianto lower lip, effectively releasing it from Ianto's teeth.

"I have missed you though." Jason whispered. He leaned forward to try and capture Ianto's lips.

Ianto pulled away just in time to avoid Jason's kiss and he ran his fingers through his dark brown hair. "I have been officially summoned by the Rift Leader," he said pointlessly because he was sure Jason knew this. He was also convinced that it was Jason who turned him in and had been annoyingly watching him the last two months, but he decided to play dumb to prevent a fight with the Leader's favorite.

If she only knew, Ianto thought.

Jason sighed. "She's in her room," He motioned towards the grand staircase, "And she is in tantrum mode."

Ianto just smiled at that. "Well it's a good thing I brought this." Ianto pulled a large milk chocolate candy bar out of his suit jacket. "Prefer dark myself," Ianto said, winking at Jason.

"You'll rot her teeth," Jason called upwards, as Ianto made his way up the stairs and out of sight.

Ianto slowed his steps as he got closer to the door at the end of the upstairs hallway. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves about what had just happened. When he went in to see the priestess he wanted to be cool, calm and collected—something that was near impossible for him after any form of contact with Jason Sims, the man who had said he wouldn't hurt him all those years ago. What a load of shit that was.

He took another deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to forget the feeling of Jason's hand on his face. After two minutes, he finally decided he was as calm as he was going to get so he slowly raised his left hand to knock on the door while his right turned to knob and pushed it gently open.

Ianto stepped into the most epic pretty pink princess room.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: I've revamped this chapter. In a way. fixed some major errors at least.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

In the middle of the room was a mini round dining table complete with four child sized chairs. Sitting in the chair facing the door was a little brunette girl with olive skin and hazel eyes she looked no older than five. Ianto wasn't fooled by her outward appearance however he knew that the girl was well over one hundred years of age and that she had the temper of a lioness.

She had her arms folded across her chest and she glared at Ianto as if she was trying to blow up his brain. He casually wondered if she could indeed do that. He held up the candy bar and smiled hoping to lessen the blow which he sensed was about to come.

She uncrossed her arms and rose from her chair. "Mr. Jones," she began her voice sounding as fierce as a five year olds could "while I make look and sound like a child, I can assure you I am not and you cannot bribe me with candy!" She then walked around the table and snatched the candy out of his hand none the less and quickly returned to her seat.

She began to open the candy bar. "Sit!" she snapped at him her eyes flicking to the small chair on the opposite side of the table from her. Ianto raised his right eyebrow at her. "Now!" she spat. He quickly sat and tried not to think about how silly he must look sitting in a chair four times too small for him.

She smiled and popped a square of chocolate into her mouth. "I have changed my name to Lily," she chimed. Ianto resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Since he had met the ancient girl she had changed her name at least twenty times. The last few had all been flower names, Rose, Tulip, and even Daffodil. Ianto supposed that living over one hundred years stuck in a child's body must mess with ones mind, so he let the identity crisis the girl seem to have go.

"That's a lovely name." Ianto stated.

"Thanks!" she chirped her smile widening, but as quickly as it appear it vanished and her glare from earlier returned.

"We thought you had all perished," she pouted softly.

Ianto looked at her with his eyes full of shame. "I know, I'm sorry," he whispered.

She rolled her eyes and huffed. "Is that it, you're sorry? It has been four months since the Canary Wharf disaster and you couldn't be bothered to pick up a phone and assure us that you made it out alive? We grieved for eight of you when we should have only cried for seven." Tears were running freely down her cheeks now.

Ianto admired the way she cared so deeply for all of them as if she was their mother. Because of this Ianto was tempted to tell her that Lisa was still here as well, but he couldn't trust anyone with that information. He had to protect her.

Ianto sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He could feel tears in his eyes about to break through.

"I cried too." he stated, "they were my friends, one was my lover. Now I have to live everyday with the guilt that I made it out and they didn't." The tears started to fall. He brushed them away and continued, "I just needed some space, I really am sorry."

Lily wiped her eyes with her hands and took a deep breath. "Okay, you're forgiven," she said sweeping her hand in front of her face as if pushing the issue away.

"So, on to the next order on business, explain to me why you seem to be stalking Harkness?"

Ianto's mouth went dry. "I'm trying to get in to Torchwood Three," he said his voice only cracking a little he hoped.

Lily let out a squealing laugh. "Are you serious? We haven't had anyone in there since Harkness took over. He is too picky. How do you think you're going to get in? Gonna smile at him real nice?"

It was a little unsettling that she was teasing him. He turned his gaze down to the table top. "That was part of my plan," he said trying not to sound like he was pouting. "It would be good if I got in though. I bet I could find the Parker files. I am really good at finding things." She just nodded at him.

They had been trying to destroy the Parker files from Torchwood's database since the 1990's. Ianto knew mentioning them was his ticket to get approved to continue trying to infiltrate Torchwood three. If it wasn't for Lisa there was no why Ianto would be attempting this feat and that was because of what had happened to Joy Parker within the walls of Torchwood.

Joy Parker was born in 1904 Cardiff. She lived a somewhat normal life until shortly after her 30th birthday when she died from heart disease and woke up in 1974 Cardiff on the beach naked. Joy didn't know she was a rift child, she didn't know what had happened and so the woman had panicked, and before long local authorities were called in. Eventually Torchwood had taken over for reasons unknown to Ianto. Apparently Torchwood figured out that whenever Joy would get hurt she would heal quickly. They also became aware that she was stronger than she should be. These are normal traits for a Rift Child after their first death. Torchwood had then proceeded to preform months of _tests_ on poor Joy until they had taken it a step to far and killed her for the second time.

This time when Joy woke up it was in 1992. The Children of the Rift were better organized by this time and Joy was easily found by one of them before authorities or Torchwood became involved. She was then sent to America for some much needed rest and relaxation time but not until she had told the whole story about what had happened to her while within Torchwood.

Because of this Ianto was scared of Torchwood Three. He realized now he should have also been scared of Torchwood One.

Finally Lily grinned ear to ear at him. "Are you sure you want to do this? I could probably have you transferred to Massachusetts they are running low on agents there and you could be a great asset to them."

Ianto shook his head "my place is here, I am not scared of Torchwood," He lied.

Lily scowled at him, "well you should be, especially with Harkness in charge! He is not a man to be fucked with!"

The vulgar word coming out of Lily's mouth made Ianto want to threaten her with soap, but he held his tongue, and stared at her in a way he hoped conveyed that he would not be backing down.

"Fine," she said shortly "I am giving you thirty days. If you aren't in by then you will be making the journey across the pond. Is that clear?" Ianto nodded.

Lily then got up and walked over to a pink and white dresser. Pulling open the top drawer she reached in, pulled out a lethal looking hand gun and placed it on the top of the dresser. Ianto tried not to cringe at the vision of a child holding such a weapon. Lily then rifled around in the drawer pushing items around as if searching for something small. Ianto was thankful she had taken the gun out. Finally she withdrew her hand holding a set of keys. "Here ya go," she said handing them to Ianto.

The first key on the ring was obviously a car key. Ianto raised his eyebrows questioningly. "Jason said you didn't seem to have a car. So we got you one. He also said that you were living in a hostel. So we have rented you a flat in Grangetown," she indicated the second key on the ring. "There is a gps in your car and the flat as already been programed in. Number 705. Also programed into the gps is the warehouse that third key belongs to."

"What's in the warehouse?" Ianto questioned.

"You're way in," Lily smiled being as cryptic as ever.

"And that would be?" Ianto pushed.

Lily paused for a moment then answered. "A Pterodactyl."


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Major issues fixed.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

As Ianto closed Lily's door behind him he took a cleansing breath. It was time to face Jason again.

He walked slowly down the hall and stopped at the top of the stairs. He peered down at Jason who was leaning against the front door grinning up at Ianto with all the innocence of a predator. Ianto wanted nothing more than to find a window to jump out of rather than walk down to face Jason. But Ianto Jones wasn't a coward. He had spent three years of his life under the _care_ of Jason and he liked to think he knew how to handle the man now.

"Well guess I'll be going then," Ianto smiled as he made his way down the stairs trying not to sound too excited about the prospect of leaving Jason's presence.

Jason's own smile faltered just a bit. "Well shall I show you to your new car?" He asked as he opened the door and began to walk out. Apparently the question had been rhetorical.

Ianto followed Jason out the front door and around to the back of the house to a detached garage. Jason lifted the garages rolling door and gestured for Ianto to go inside. Reluctantly Ianto obeyed. He immediately wished he hadn't because as soon as he was in properly Jason closed the rolling door, effectively locking Ianto in the garage with his new car and a man he despised.

He blinked so his eyes would adjust to the dark, the only light to be seen in the cramped space shown through a small window high on the back wall of the building. Ianto wondered what the probability was of him getting to said window before Jason pounced. _Really low_, he mused as he saw the shadow that was Jason take a step towards him.

The Welshman decided that his first attempt to get out of this mess would be what he liked to call the keep calm and play dumb approach. He pointed toward the closed rolling door. "It's going to be hard to get the car out with that closed." His words broke the uneasy silence.

It took Jason five seconds to effectively pin Ianto to the passenger side of the car face first. Ianto tried to just breathe. Jason held his wrists in a tight grip with his left hand while his right hand fisted in Ianto's hair pulling his head back to expose his neck. Clearly the keep calm and play dumb approach wasn't going to work. Ianto briefly flirted with idea of the brute force approach, but knew that was a lost cause and would only leave him with unattractive bruises. He was tempted to go with the shut up and take it approach, but he wasn't willing to give in that easily. So he decided to go with the reasoning approach, and if that didn't work he would go with the hurtful words approach, but that too would lead him to a black eye or something of the sort.

"Jason, I don't want to do this." That was reasonable. Jason leaned his head close to Ianto's ear.

"And you know I won't force you. But I've really missed you and you know how good we are together. You know I could make the pain go away even if it is just for a moment. I can see it there in your eyes the pain that we all share," he whispered then he proceeded to gently suck, kiss, and bite Ianto's neck.

Ianto thought it was a tempting offer but held on to his resolve. "I don't want to do this," he repeated his voice only a little shaky.

Jason stopped kissing Ianto's neck and removed his hand from the young man's hair. He took a step back, released one of the Welshman's hands and gently pulled Ianto away from the car. Ianto could tell he wasn't happy about being rejected but at least he had released him and that was a victory. Clearly reasoning had won this round.

"Give me the key," Jason demanded extending his hand. Ianto considered arguing, but he knew there would be no point. So reluctantly he handed Jason the keys. Jason used it to unlock the car then pointed to the passenger door. "Get in," he said again his tone demanding.

Ianto rolled his eyes and got in the car. The interior was nothing to fancy, he was sure that his idol James Bond wouldn't approve, but you took what you could get. Ianto shielded his eyes as Jason opened the garage door which showered the car with sunlight.

Jason opened the driver's door and got in. As he was buckling his seat belt Ianto decided to try another dose of reasoning. "I could drive myself I know how to work the GPS and amazingly enough I also know how to work a car."

Jason looked over at him and smiled "I am not letting you go that easily Jones."

TW-TW-TW

The drive to Ianto's new flat had been in silence, an uneasy, gut-wrenching, put up your defenses silence. So by the time Jason and Ianto walked in to the flat the tension the silence caused could be cut with a knife. Jason seemed to have finally had enough because he tried to casually break the ice.

"I bought you one of those fancy coffee makers, you still like coffee ya?"

Ianto mumbled a yes and thanks and then they fell back in to silence.

_What did Jason think,_ thought Ianto, _that I would just let by gones be by gones once I learned about the 'fancy' coffee maker._

Curiosity got the best of the coffee addict anyway and he stuck his head into the kitchen to see the machine.

_Damn_ he thought, _that is a nice machine_.

Ianto turned back to the living area and saw that Jason had taken a seat on the small couch that was in there. Thankfully there were also two arm chairs so he took a seat in the one farthest from the couch.

"So," Jason announced, "I think we need to talk."

Ianto nodded so Jason continued "Everything I ever did was to get you ready for this cursed life we are forced to lead for eternity. I did all of it, not because I wanted to harm you but because I wanted you to be able to handle what this life may throw at you. I love you Yanni."

Ianto hated that nickname.

"Oh," Ianto growled his voice dripping with sarcasm, "I sure felt the love. I really felt it when I was seventeen and you locked me in your basement for a month. I especially felt it through your 'torture to teach me how to deal with torture' training. Or the time you pushed me off the boat in the middle of the bay, cause I needed to know how to swim under pressure." he was yelling now.

_The audacity of this man to claim love for me_, he thought.

"You know the worst part Jason, I thought you had to do all that stuff. That it was some kind of Children of the Rift regulation. But I learned the truth when I moved to London didn't I. All that shit was because you are a sick, mess up, bastard. Your day wouldn't have been complete until you tortured me and then convinced me to go willingly in to your fucking bed. "

"Are you quite finished?" Jason asked calmly which only proved to piss Ianto off more.

The Welshman pointed to the door, "get the fuck out," he spat.

Jason shook his head "not till I have had my say. I sat here calmly and listened to your adolescent rant now you will do me the same courtesy."

Ianto rolled his eyes. The way Jason talked to him as if he still had some kind of authority over him made Ianto want to scream in frustration.

"You may sit here and talk to the wall for all I care, I'm going to get my items from the hostel. Then I am going to come back here and get ready to use a dinosaur to seduce Jack Harkness. So if you will please excuse me."

Ianto was reaching for the door knob when Jason grabbed him and pushed him on to the couch. He straddled the resisting boy and forced his hands over his head. "No one is leaving till I get my say, is that clear?" he hissed his mouth a mere inch away from Ianto's.

Ianto felt old fears creeping up inside him. He nodded his head.

Jason got up and sat in one of the arm chairs. Ianto sat up into a sitting position and rubbed his wrists where Jason had held them too tightly. Ianto wondered vaguely if they would bruise. He felt like it was his fault, he had provoked him. He should have just sat there and listened to Jason try and defend his actions. That thought reminded him of one of Lisa's mates in London. The girl had come the their flat one night with one eye swollen shut and a busted lip, but the first thing out of her mouth had been. "It was my fault." That's what this situation was like. In reality Ianto knew that, if his wrists were indeed bruised, it was Jason's fault not his, but admitting that didn't give him a way out of this situation. He laughed at the insanity of it.

Jason glared at him. "What's funny?" he asked.

"Nothing," Ianto replied shaking his head.

Sighing Jason began his rebuttal to Ianto's earlier rant. "I realize that my methods were unconventional, but I stand by them because I feel they are necessary. Seeing as you were the only one to make it out of Canary Wharf, I think you should see my point."

Ianto rolled his eyes. The only reason he had made it out had been because he had been knocked out in one of the smaller archival rooms and hadn't woken up till the battle was nearly over.

Ianto noticed that Jason had stopped talking. "Are you done?" he asked.

Jason sighed "Yes. Go."

Ianto wanted to argue about being told to leave his own flat, but he wanted to leave even more, so he didn't. He just got up off the couch and walked out.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Here is chapter 4 hope you all enjoy. I would really love to get a comment or two just saying.

Ianto opened the door to his flat while balancing a card board box on his hip. It was five minutes till midnight and he was exhausted but he had wanted to get this box from storage because in contained his favorite red tie. Red really was his color.

He placed the box on the coffee table and took the tie out. "I wouldn't go with red," said a voice behind him.

Ianto jumped obviously startled "You're still here I see," turning from his position on the couch to look at Jason who was standing in the bedrooms doorway. Jason had still been there earlier in the day to when Ianto had returned from the hostel with all his belongings. Ianto had opted to ignore him at that time and had focused all his attention on getting ready to go. The only interaction they had was when Ianto came out of the bedroom wearing blue jeans, a buttoned up shirt the top buttons undone, and a silver necklace. Ianto had decided, of his own accord, to change back into a suit after Jason had said he looked like a rent boy.

Coming back to the present Ianto continued his observation. "And in my bedroom," Ianto didn't even try to hide the annoyance in his voice.

Jason walked over and sat next to Ianto on the couch putting his feet up on the coffee table. "I did leave for a while, I have a life you know, but I came back after Lily told me you got in. Wanted to congratulate you in person. You seemed to be taking your sweet time getting back so I took a little nap, hope you don't mind."

Ianto did mind. He inwardly groaned his bed was going to smell like Jason now. Jason continued talking as if he didn't notice the annoyance radiating off of Ianto. "Lily bought the bedding and towels online. She loves shopping online. I'd go as far as to say she is addicted." It was clear to Ianto that Jason was just rambling about nonsense now.

"Why don't I want to wear the red tie?" Ianto said returning to Jason's earlier comment.

"I think the better question would be why you want to wear it?" Jason said.

"I look good in red," Ianto said like the answer was obvious.

Jason grinned "I know you do, but who are you trying to look good for?"

Ianto threw the tie back in to the box. He knew exactly where Jason was going with this. "I fucking hate you."

Jason's grin grew wider. "I don't think you do. Anyway, you should go with a pale blue. It will match your eyes, plus it will make you seem less eager."

"I am not eager at all." Ianto pouted, "Really I am not. I just know that I need him to trust me. So I was going to prove that I trust him."

"By letting him fuck you over a desk perhaps?" Jason teased.

Ianto was not amused. "No! I am just going to do everything he says no questions asked and be the model employee. Follow the straight and narrow as it were. Maybe flirt with him a little he seems to like that. I want to wear the red tie simply because I want to look my best. No ulterior motive."

"So if he asks you to let..." Jason started but Ianto cut him off.

"Look whether or not I have sex with Jack Harkness is not really any of your concern. Nor is the color of tie I choose to ware. So if you could please make your way to the nearest exit and let me go to bed."

Jason smiled "Okay, but one more thing. Nothing says I trust you like letting someone be your first. So if you do decide to go down the sex route. Pretend he is your first." And with that Jason got up from the couch and headed out of Ianto's flat leaving the young man with a lot to think about.

Ianto knew that if he took Jason's advice it would make him feel morally bankrupt, but he also knew that he already felt that way anyway. That's what being a professional liar did to people, no matter how justifiable the reasons for the lies. He really needed Jack to trust him though. So he would be able to sneak Lisa into the Torchwood base and get her out of that cramped storage room she was currently in. He knew he would do anything for Lisa, even if it meant seducing a dangerous man. In a way he had already done that, but that had all been accidental. If he did what Jason suggested he would really be going that extra hazardous mile. What really worried Ianto is that he wanted to do it. He was pretty sure that even if there were no files to destroy and no Lisa to protect he would still want nothing more than to jump into the dashing Captain's bed. And that made Ianto feel like he was betraying Lisa.

Ianto took a deep breathe. It's not like he had to decide right now. He got off the couch and went to the bathroom to shower. He tried not to think of how great Jack's body had felt beneath him. Of how wonderful the older man had smelled. He tried desperately not to wonder what would have happened had he kissed those lips that had been so close to his. He looked down and realized that he had failed. He turned on the cold water to fix the situation. Then he got out of the shower, dried off and slid in to bed.

He was immediately assaulted with Jason's scent but he was just too tired to care.

TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW

Ianto arrived at the tourist center at 7:30 the next morning wearing a pale blue tie that matched his eyes. Jack hadn't been specific on what time he should report for work so Ianto had just picked 7:30.

He looked up at the camera that was just above the centers door and smiled and waved at it. Someone must have been watching because as soon as he did this the centers door opened. Ianto cautiously entered.

Captain Jack Harkness was standing behind the counter of the very dirty and very unorganized tourist center. "You don't need a guard dog sir, you need a maid." Ianto said running his finger along one of the dusty shelves.

Jack laughed "Sir," he said raising his eyebrows, "I like that." He then looked straight at Ianto and winked. "If you want to be the maid I am sure I can find you one of those black and white outfits. I am sure it would look lovely on you."

Ianto blushed "That's okay. Think I will stick to the suits.

Jack smiled "You do look good in a suit."

"Wow, three counts of harassment and I haven't even been here five minutes." Ianto deadpanned.

Jack grinned and pushed a button under the counter which opened one of the centers walls to reveal a dark hallway. "It's only harassment if you don't enjoy it," he said ushering Ianto into the hallway.

In the elevator on the way down to Torchwood 3's underground base Ianto couldn't help but smile at the overgrown man child who was bouncing on his toes in excitement because he was about to show off his lair. This was a total 360 from the man that had threatened to wipe Ianto's memories just last night. For some reason this ability of Jack's to be able to change so dramatically seemed to scare Ianto. So it was with a mixture of excitement and fear that Ianto stepped out of the elevator and stood in front of a big cog door.

"Ready?" Jack said his finger hovering over a blue button and his blue eyes staring into Ianto's. Ianto smiled again and nodded. Jack hit the button and the door rolled open revealing the vast main area of the Torchwood base.

"Welcome to the hub Jones, Ianto, Jones," Jack stated.

Ianto just stared in amazement. Not because of the amazing technology that made the place glow with blue lights. Or even because of the beautiful water fountain that connected to the one above ground. No Ianto was amazed that four grown adults could make such a mess. The whole place was littered with take-out containers, dust, and what appeared to be a single shoe floating just below the water fountain. Ianto realized his mouth was hanging open so he shut it.

"It's wonderful isn't it," Jack said obviously still excited.

"It's a disaster zone. It should probably be shut down do to health code violations." Ianto said looking at Jack with narrowed eyes.

Jack just grinned "I think we over rule the health department."

Ianto rolled his eyes. "You should have hired me two months ago. Actually more like years ago." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. This was going to take time. His eyes swept across the hub until they settled on an old but nice coffee maker. He walked up some stairs so he could get a better look at it.

He wanted to cry for the poor thing. It obviously hadn't been properly cleaned or touched in years. He placed a hand on it and then with a face of mock horror he looked at Jack who was now standing by the top of the stairs. "Look what you monsters have done to this innocent coffee machine," he teased. He turned his attention back to the machine and softly patted it. "It's okay baby," he said to the machine "I'll take care of you now."

Jack laughed out loud behind him. "Should I leave you two alone?" He teased.

Ianto turned and glared at Jack, then smiled. "That's okay sir, I hear office relationships aren't really healthy."

Jack smiled and went to walk by Ianto into what Ianto assumed was the boardroom but stopped just behind him. "Good thing we aren't in an office," he said in to Ianto's ear as he slapped his arse and then continued on towards the boardroom.

He stopped just inside the room and turned to look back at Ianto who was still standing by the coffee maker trying his best to look shocked and not turned on. "Did you want to continue the tour?" Jack asked raising his eyebrows.

Ianto was just about to answer when an alarm sounded and the cog door rolled open to reveal a small Asian woman. Ianto took one look at her and realized she was Torchwood's tech specialist. He looked over at Jack who looked, for the entire world to see, like a child who was just told play time was over.

"Tosh," the pouting man said walking back down the stairs, "you're here early."

"Yes," she said with a yawn. She walked over to the cleaner of the computer work stations, placed her bag on the chair and began to look through it. "I have a lot of decoding to do to figure out what that tech we found last week says. We've been so busy that I figured if I got here early enough I could have time to figure it out before Owen gets in and starts asking ridiculous questions and Susie starts using that bloody blowtorch."

She stopped talking as she pulled a pair of reading glassed from her bag and slipped them on. She looked up at Jack and then noticed Ianto. "Oh, hello," she said smiling warmly at him. She then started to look through her bag again and pulled out a sheet of paper. To Ianto it looked like a betting spread sheet and her next words proved him right.

"I need to know the exact time you hired him and the reason's you hired him," Tosh said as she put the paper on a flat part of her desk and readied a pen to write.

Jack chuckled "Well," he started turning and winking at Ianto "It was about 8:30 last night and I hired him because he can think under pressure and cares for other creatures." He paused for a moment when Tosh turned to look at him over her glasses. Jack smiled a mischievous smile and hastily added "and he looks damn good in a suit."

It didn't bother Ianto; he could care less why Jack hired him. He just wanted to save Lisa and in a side mission find and destroy the parker files and anything else that may have anything to do with Children of the Rift.

"Oh, Owen is not going to be happy," Tosh smiled at Jack and Ianto. She then turned back to her desk pulling open a bottom draw and withdrawing a small rectangular black box with silver symbols on one side of it.

Ianto recognized the alien words immediately upon seeing them. When you were a Child of the Rift, you had to learn as many other languages as you could stuff in your head because you never knew when or where you would end up next and knowing the language in a strange place is a big help. Ianto currently knew 23 spoken languages and 14 separate written languages, the one on Tosh's box being one of the written. He was unsure what the language was called or even the name of the alien's it belonged to, but he reasoned given 3 minutes with the box and he would know what it said. But he held his tongue, as Jason had thought him to do. "No one likes a showoff," he could hear Jason's voice saying in his head and also. "Don't give away too much about yourself because it could blow your cover."

Jack turned away from Tosh and looked at Ianto. "She's lost to the world now," he teased. "Come on I'll show you the archives before the other two show up."

TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW

It seemed to Ianto that every new area of the hub he saw was more messy that the last. On their way to the archives Jack had shown Ianto the cells were they kept prisoners, like the Weevil Ianto had help Jack catch. Jack had of course made a joke about locking Ianto in one if he wasn't a good boy. But Ianto had been to appalled by the condition the weevil was being forced to live in to notice.

The archives seemed to be in the worse shape. While there seemed to have been an order to it once upon a time now the order system seemed to be place it anywhere there is an opening. Ianto figured this was going to take up most of his time.

Jack showed Ianto a small office in the middle of the archives. It was clear it hadn't been used for years. Jack explained that it would be Ianto's office. Ianto took a quick look around. It was kind of sparse housing only an old metal desk and chair and two even older filing cabinets.

"So," Ianto said focusing his attention back on Jack and clasping his hand together. "Just to recap my duties as the support Officer," Ianto liked that title. "I will be cleaning, taking care of food and drink, dealing with the rare tourist, and fixing the archives. Anything else?"

"Nope, not unless you want to add servicing the Captain to your list, though that would be more of a perk than a duty." Jack said nonchalantly.

Ianto rolled his eyes but didn't comment. He walked over to the filing cabinets and opened the top draw of one of them there was nothing in it. Disappointed he closed it. He then felt Jacks arms snake around him from behind. Ianto's breathe hitched as he felt Jack place a small kiss on the back of his neck. Jack then gently turned Ianto around and softly kissed his lips. Ianto prayed for Jack to both stop and continue. The latter of the prayers one because Jack's lips met his again this time it was with more passion and force. Jack brought one hand to the side of Ianto's face and the other to the middle of his back as he pulled their bodies closer together. Jack ran his tongue along the younger man's lower lip begging for entrance, which Ianto granted by parting his lips and letting Jack deepen the kiss.

That's when Ianto felt it a rush of energy that seemed to shoot through his veins. His eyes shot opened (when had he closed them) and he pushed Jack away.

Jack looked taken aback and Ianto looked frightened but that's because he was. "I'm sorry," Ianto managed to blurt out. He tried to calm his breathing and think logically but all he wanted to do was ask Jack what the fuck he was. "But that would blow your cover" he heard Jason's voice say.

Finally Ianto trusted himself to speak again, "I've never kissed a bloke before, I didn't expect it to be so…" he took a deep breathe trying to think of a good word, "incredible."

Jack grinned "first time what an honor." All Ianto could think was damn Jason for being right.

Jack brought his hand up to cup Ianto's chin but as soon as his fingers touched Ianto's face the boy flinched back in fear. Shit, thought Ianto, what a way to prove you trust someone to flinch away from their touch. To try and rectify the situation Ianto grabbed Jacks hand and slowly ran his thumb across the older man's knuckles.

Jack smiled nervously then glanced at his wrist watch. "Well," he said gently removing his hand from Ianto's "that concludes our tour. The other two should be here by now so let's go introduce you to them." Jack turned and started to walk back to the main hub Ianto followed him.

On the journey back through the hub Ianto tried to figure out what had caused that energy rush. It was normal to have a slight rush around other Rift Children that's how they could recognize each other. But the rush he had just felt had been 10 times more intense. It was a moot point anyway because Jack wasn't a Rift Child. To prove this to himself he tried to sense Jack, and he couldn't, which took Ianto back to square one. Maybe he was a sex god, Ianto mused. The insanity of that thought caused Ianto to giggle. Jack looked back and raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything.

When they reached the main hub there was another woman there. She had brown curly hair and olive skin and looked to be handing Tosh some money. She looked up as Jack and Ianto entered into her view. She put on a clearly forced smile. Jack seemed to be fooled though.

"Susie, meet Torchwood's new support officer Ianto Jones," said Jack. Susie extended her hand to Ianto and he shook it.

"He doesn't need to introduce me to you. I assume you know everything about us the way you've been stocking us the last two months," she said to Ianto her fake smile never faltering.

Ianto was tempted to share just how much he did know about the woman but decided to play nice. So plastering on his on fake smile he said "it's nice to meet you Susie."

Fifteen minutes later and Ianto was in the tourist center trying to make it presentable when the entrance door chimed open. Dr. Owen Harper walked through ear buds in his ears and eyes locked on an ipod in his hands, not even noticing Ianto until Ianto pushed the button to open the wall. Owen looked up and gave Ianto a questioning stare. Ianto gave him a nervous little wave.

"When did he give into you then?" Owen said removing the ear buds from his ears.

"Last night around 8:30," said Ianto.

Owen sighed and walked back to the centers entrance. He opened the door and flipped the open sign to close. He then shut and locked the door. "Come on then newbie," he said waving Ianto towards the hidden wall "let's go get your physical over with."

Before Ianto knew it he was sitting on the autopsy table in the medical bay sans shirt, with the good doctor standing in front of him holding what appeared to be his medical history report.

"How long ago did you get those burns?" Owen said pointing to Ianto's chest and forearms.

Ianto looked down at them. "4 months," he answered truthfully.

"Well then," said Owen "they are healing quite well. What happened when you were 17 to cause you to have hypothermia?"

"I got tossed off a boat in the middle of Cardiff Bay when it was below freezing out." Ianto answered again truthfully.

Owen asked few more nosy questions, checked Ianto's vitals, and drew some blood before he finally let Ianto put his shirt back on and go back to work.

The rest of Ianto's first day went by pretty easy. At noon he got lunch for the team, at 4 he closed the tourist center. At 6 he stopped working in the archives and got dinner for the team. While eating dinner a beeping sound started going off throughout the hub.

Tosh went to her computer "Something's come through in Grangetown." she said.

Jack got up from the table, "okay team let's go check it out. Ianto you can call it a day just remember to lock up." And like that Ianto was left alone in the Hub. He could hardly believe how easily he had been trusted.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Naughty Jack at the end of this chapter. If you don't want to read it stop at the word 'Ticklish'

Over the next several weeks Ianto learned a lot. He learned that the energy rush he got from Jack only happened if two things lined up. One, Jack had to be touching him and two Jack had to be feeling an emotion with intensity, such as irate anger, over whelming happiness, or, the one that Ianto was privy too quite often, extreme arousal.

Jack had on several occasions initiated make out sessions since their first failed attempt but would always stop shortly after the rush would start in Ianto. Ianto figured it was because Jack didn't want to push too far, and even though the sessions would leave Ianto extremely sexually frustrated he never tried to initiate them to go further either, he was trying to be true to Lisa.

Ianto also realized that the rush would affect his emotions, causing him to feel as Jack felt. He discovered this one day when Jack was angry with Owen. Owen had been trigger happy and had shot and alien before realizing that it did in deed come in peace.

They had all been standing in the medical bay. Owen lurking close over the body of the alien, while Ianto stood next to him holding a metal tray that Owen was dropping debris on as he tried to extract the bullet from the alien's yellow and furry flesh. Jack was standing on the stairs, arms crossed over his chest, having a go at Owen, and the girls were watching the whole scene from the observation deck.

It happened when Jack had come down the stairs and brushed his arm against Ianto on his way to get in the doctor's face. When Jack had touched him it caused Ianto to feel so angry that he dropped the tray and punched Owen square in the jaw, causing the man to fall on his ass.

"What the hell was that for tea-boy," Owen had yelled at him.

The whole team including Jack, who had stopped his ranting, stared at him as if he had grown an extra head. Ianto, who was always quick on his feet, quickly diffused the situation with a lie that was lined in truth.

"I've wanted to punch you since you started calling me tea-boy, but I was waiting for Jack to be upset with you before I did it to avoid punishment." That had worked because Jack and the girls had started laughing and Owen had called him a psycho while holding his hand to his bruised face.

Ianto was also able to feel genuinely happy for the first time in months through Jack's emotions.

Jack had come skipping into the hub after a mission grinning like a cat and repeating over and over in a sing-song voice "everybody lives." They had just successfully saved everybody in an office building that had an alien device in it that had frozen all 106 employees within the building in place, as if they had all been playing and extreme game of freeze tag. Jack had disengaged the device causing everyone to unfreeze and go about their normal lives.

Jack had engulfed Ianto into a hug when he reached him and Ianto had felt true bliss coursing through his body. He had wrapped his arms around Jack's torso hoping he would never let go.

Along with learning more about his eerie connection with Jack, Ianto had also accomplished a lot.

He had made the coffee machine functional, and had found a suitable room for Lisa.

He had cleaned the hub from top to bottom, and had stolen medical supplies for Lisa.

He had gotten the archives to be presentable, and he had moved Lisa into the hub, for Lisa.

Moving Lisa into the hub had been his biggest and most difficult achievement. First he had rented a haulage truck and loaded Lisa into it. He parked it in the parking garage next to the hub. Next he had placed all the CCTV cameras within the hub on a loop, which had been a headache because the hub had a lot of cameras. He then moved her in as quickly as possible and was almost caught unlooping the cameras when the team arrived back from their usual pub outing on Thursday afternoons. That night when Ianto had made it back to his flat he had collapsed on his bed and had fallen asleep in his suit.

One thing Ianto hadn't been able to accomplish was finding the Parker file. He did however find a file from 1902 that had suggested a correlation between the rift and a mysterious pregnancy were the baby had come out glowing. Ianto figured this had no real connection to the Children of the Rift but felt it was too close for comfort and had incinerated it anyway.

The Thursday after moving Lisa found Ianto sitting at his desk in the archives head in his hands. He was frustrated that he hadn't found the Parker file. It made no sense really why the file was not in the 1970's section of the archives. He had found the empty vile that Joy Parker's blood sample should have been in, and had figured out which morgue drawer her body was supposed to be lying in. It had been easy enough for him to dispose of the clothing in the drawer and make it seem like the drawer had never been assigned a body.

In his mind he knew where the file must be, but he was too scared to attempt to get it. This is why he sat at his desk trying to come up with other places the file could be besides the place he knew it was. Finally he resolved to quit being a wimp when he reminded himself that humanity itself depended on him finding and destroying that file. Maybe that was an over the top, but it gave him a bit of courage.

He traveled up to the main hub and leaned against a wall as he watched the man he worked for and his colleagues play their usual round of basketball to decide who would buy the first round at the pub.

Tosh caught the ball as Owen tried to pass it to Susie. Jack picked up the petite Tosh and lifted her into the air like she was as light as a child. From that height she easily made the winning basket.

"That was cheating," moaned Owen.

"I'm the Captain; I am above the laws of basketball. You're buying the first round," said Jack as he gently place Tosh back onto the ground and the four of them made their way out of the hub leaving Ianto alone.

Ianto's first stop was to a supplies closet, he picked up some dusting spray, glass cleaner, and a few white rags. He then made his way to Jack's office. Jack didn't have a camera in his office because he said he didn't like being watched. To Ianto this was a good thing because it would serve to make this current mission easier.

When he first got into the office he cleaned it, so if for some reason he was asked why he went into the office he could answer truthfully, to clean. Once the office was clean he let his gaze fall to Jack's filing cabinet. The bottom drawer had a key pad lock on it. If Ianto's hunch was correct and Jack was indeed hiding the Parker file that's where it would be.

Ianto strode over to the cabinet and knelled in front of it. He looked at the key pad and rolled his eyes. Child's play he thought. He was right, he had the drawer unlocked within a minute. Ianto opened the drawer and started looking through the files. It was odd, they were all from different decades about varies types of events, all relatively normal by Torchwood standards. The only thing they all had in common was they all referred to agent 474. Ianto filed that information in his brain to consider later. He found the Parker file near the back of the drawer.

He took the file and placed it in a small black trash bag that held the rest of the trash from Jack's office. He then left the office, trash bag in hand.

When he made it to the incinerator his curiosity got the best of him and he decided to look at the file. He pulled it out of the bag, opened it and began to read the first page.

It read; Torchwood case files number 7652, January 17, 1974, Subject Joy Louis Parker, Estimated age at time of discovery 30. It went on like this stating various things that Ianto already knew. So Ianto moved on to the next page. It read; Test 1 minor cut. Subject's injury healed within five minutes. Stapled behind the page were six photos each showing a woman's hand. The first one had a really nasty cut across it. The next one showed the same cut but it had clearly started to heal. By the last photo the cut had totally healed leaving only dried blood behind.

With every page that Ianto turned the tests got more gruesome along with the photos. They had stabbed her, shot her, cut off fingers, and had even cut off her whole hand but each time she had healed herself within an hour. The last page said, subject executed by agent 474. The picture attached showed just her face. Her blue eyes staring blankly ahead and a small hole in the middle of her forehead.

Ianto threw the file into the incinerator and watched it burn. He made his way silently to the main hub. When he got there he was vaguely aware that the team had returned. He stood still as they all moved around him doing things that he didn't care about. His mind was focused on agent 474.

Questions that Ianto didn't know the answers to started to go through his mind, why did Jack hide the files about agent 474, how could one agent be involved in a case in the 1870's and then another in the 1970's, and how could human beings torture an innocent woman so brutally?

That's when other facts started to come in to light. Jack's weevil bite healing within minutes when he first met him, Jack telling him about 51st century pheromones, the rushes of energy he got from him, Jack picking up Tosh earlier like he had super human strength. So many things made Jack seem like a Child of the Rift, except for the fact that he wasn't. Maybe Jack was some advanced version of a rift child, rift child 2.0. Maybe he could mask the feeling that would make Ianto aware of him. If that was true then that would mean that Jack could possibly be over 100 years old just like Lily. That's when Ianto realized, the reason Jack hid files about agent 474 is because Jack was agent 474.

Jack, the man that he worked for, the man he flirted with, the man he had on several occasions made out with, was capable of torturing and murdering. And Ianto was currently deceiving him. Ianto felt his knees go weak beneath him and he saw the hub start to fade to black and as he fainted.

TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW

Ianto was standing in a dimly lit room, and he was scared, but he couldn't remember why.

"Ianto," he heard a voice say behind him.

He turned around and saw Jack standing there with his arm crossed over his chest. Then he remembered why he was scared. It was because of Jack, he was terrified of Jack. He took a step back but found himself hitting a wall, which was odd because one hadn't been there before.

Jack started to walk towards him. "You've been a bad boy Ianto," said Jack stopping just in front of Ianto and placing his hand under the young man's chin slightly raising it and looking deep into Ianto's eyes. "Hiding your whore in my basement, snooping around my office, and destroying my files, do you know what I do with people like you Ianto?"

Ianto suddenly felt something cold on his cheek. He looked down slightly and realized it was a knife. It was then that he began to cry and beg, using three words over and over, "Please, don't, Jack."

TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW

Ianto felt himself being shaken awake and he set up with a start. His breathing was rapid and he was pouring sweat. He slowly realized that it had just been a dream. He then registered that he was shaking and that someone had their arms wrapped tightly around him. That someone also had their head leaning against his alternating between kissing his forehead and whispering 'shh…' That's when Ianto figured out it was Jack.

He forcefully pushed the man away from him and jumped up off the bed he had been in. He realized that he was in one of the medical suites that he had just finished thoroughly cleaning the day before. So the first thought in his head was, now I will have to clean it again. He looked up at Jack who had also gotten off the bed. He wasn't wearing his normal clothes Ianto noted just track bottoms and a plain white t-shirt. The older man had his hands slightly raised in front of him, palms facing Ianto.

"Ianto it's okay, it's just me, you are safe okay. You were just having a bad dream." Jack said taking a step closer to Ianto.

Ianto backed into the door of the room; this was feeling an awful lot like his dream. Jack stopped and sighed. "I don't understand why you sometimes seem so scared of me Ianto. Did you hear stories about me while you were at Torchwood London? Did I do something that I am not aware of?" Ianto just shook his head.

"I like you Ianto; I am not going to hurt you." Jack said taking another step forward. "Tell me you understand that." Ianto nodded.

Jack closed the rest of the gap between them putting his arms around Ianto and pulling him into a hug. He then gently pushed the man up against the door and began kissing him gently at first but slowly increasing the passion. This time it was Ianto who deepened the kiss causing Jack to moan softly and grind against the other man. Then Jack pulled away causing Ianto to whine slightly.

"Owen said you were to stay in bed when you woke up, so let's get you back in there shall we," Jack said as he softly tugged on Ianto's hand to lead him back to the full size bed. It was then that Ianto realized he was only wearing boxers.

"Where's my suit, and who took it off me?" Ianto pouted.

"It's in the wardrobe," Jack said pointing to a wardrobe pushed against one of the walls. "And I took it off you," he winked.

Ianto climbed into the bed and Jack followed him, wrapping his arm around the Welshman and effectively spooning him. He started to gently trace shapes on Ianto stomach which caused Ianto to giggle.

"Ticklish," Jack said softly in the other man's ear.

"Just a bit," said Ianto trying and failing to control his breathing. Not only was he feeling the rush from Jacks arousal but he was also feeling it from his own. It increased even more as Jack moved his hand down and rested it over Ianto's clear erection.

"Is that for me?" Jack purred. Ianto nodded not trusting himself to speak. Jack began to stroke him through his boxers. Ianto moaned softly. "Do you like that," Jack said. Ianto was sure he could come just from Jack's voice. Jack moved his hand into Ianto boxers where he immediately started to pump his member taking no prisoners. Ianto moaned loudly and leaned his head back onto Jack's shoulder. Jack leaned his head forward and captured the Welshman's lips deepening the kiss immediately and never letting up his beautiful assault on Ianto's erection.

Ianto could feel that all too familiar pull in the pit of his stomach and started to slowly thrust his hips. Jack broke the kiss and looked in Ianto's eyes. "Come for me Ianto," he whispered against Ianto's lips. That pushed Ianto over the edge.

When his heart rate returned to normal Ianto turned around to face Jack with intent to return the favor, and he did.


	6. Chapter 6

AN: okay here is chapter 6. If you want to read the smut scene it is on my live journal page. tstul006. that's me. (also chapter 7 and 8 are already there as well)

Disclaimers: I don't own Torchwood.

Spoilers: They keep Killing Susie (barely)

Warning: MA, mentions of murder, sexual references, and mental illness.

Ianto woke up to the sound of his phone's ringtone. He groaned and shoved at the body currently attached to him.

"I'm not making the noise don't abuse me," said Jack who didn't sound like he had been asleep.

"Make it stop," Ianto whined.

"Its 4 am probably important," Jack teased.

Ianto rolled off the bed taking the thin sheet with him and walked over the wardrobe to retrieve his phone from his suit's pocket. It stopped ringing. Ianto rolled his eyes; phones always stop ringing as soon as you reach them he thought. He checked the missed call, Jason Sims. He inwardly groaned, Jason wouldn't want anything good at 4 in the morning.

"It was my sister," he lied to Jack.

Ianto walked to the room's door and tried to open it so he could go call Jason back in private, but it wouldn't budge. He turned and looked with annoyance at Jack, "Why is this door locked?"

Jack got up to stand in front of Ianto and lovingly pat him on the cheek. "I didn't want you to sneak away in the middle of the night and make me feel cheap," He pouted. Ianto raised an eyebrow.

"You were turning the handle the wrong way," Jack laughed as he reached around Ianto and easily opened the unlocked door.

Ianto glared at Jack and went through the threshold to find that private place.

He wound up in his office in the archives and by the time he got there he wished he had taken time to put on his suit because the thin sheet wasn't doing much against the cold of the hub. He leaned against his desk and dialed Jason.

The man answered on the first ring, "It's annoying when you don't answer my calls," Jason said rudely.

Ianto rolled his eyes. "Sorry I was asleep like most people are at 4 am," he said.

"I can hear you rolling your eyes Jones," Jason said.

Ianto wasn't in the mood for this, "Whatever, what did you want?"

"You need to come to Lily's, we have a problem," Jason answered.

"What kind of problem," Ianto asked.

"I can't tell you on the phone, just get here!" Jason snapped.

"Okay, okay keep your pants on," Ianto said.

"Don't tempt me Jones," Jason retorted.

Ianto closed his phone then looked up to see Jack leaning casually against the doorway.

"Eavesdropping are we?" Ianto teased.

Jack shook his head, "me, never" he laughed "so you walked all the way through the hub wearing only a sheet?"

Ianto raised an eyebrow, "so?"

Jack laughed again, "Tosh is going to love that when she reviews the CCTV tomorrow."

Ianto paled, "You can delete it can't you?"

"What do I get if I do?" Jack said seductively.

"It's more like what you won't get if you don't," Ianto deadpanned.

"Ianto Jones, withholding sex already" Jack said smiling.

Ianto rolled his eyes, "actually I was thinking coffee. Being as we haven't had sex can't really withhold it."

Jack shrugged, "secret hand shake is close enough."

Ianto just rolled his eyes.

"I need to go take care of my niece and nephew for my sister. Her husband's cousin has had a heart attack. So I maybe late for work," Ianto said.

Jack looked reluctant to let him go, "I told Owen I wouldn't let you leave till he got back to check you out."

"It's a bit of an emergency," Ianto pleaded.

Jack didn't look convinced.

"I feel fine, see look," Ianto said as he extended his right hand and then brought the pointer finger to his nose.

Jack nodded slightly, "Okay just take it easy."

TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW

The drive to Lily's house gave Ianto time to think. He didn't understand it but for some reason Ianto believed Jack's words from the night before. He found it hard to comprehend that his Jack was a murdering torturer. (When did he become my Jack, Ianto wondered.) Jack got upset when something was killed needlessly, and went out of his way to provide protection to creatures like the weevils and their pterodactyl. He had even been put out when the torchwood cat had gone missing shortly after Ianto's arrival. If Jack had been a murdering torturer in 1974, then clearly something had changed him during the last three decades.

But Ianto mused, just because Jack is a good person now doesn't absolve him for his earlier crimes. Ianto thought back to the Parker file. The only mention of Jack had been on the last page, the earlier pages made no mentions to any agents. There was no way to prove who had done the actual torturing maybe Jack felt that killing her was the only way to end her suffering at the hands of what would have been his superiors. Ianto realized that he was grasping at straws and was only trying to make himself feel better after giving in to Jack last night, but he didn't care.

It was 5:30am by the time Ianto found himself once again in front of the Victorian house. He found the front door to be open so he pushed it open. There was a light on in the front parlor so Ianto made his way inside. There were two love seats in the room sitting across from each other with a coffee table in the middle. On the wall farthest away from Ianto was a beautiful fireplace. Ianto took a minute to look around the room at the three people occupying it.

Lily sat on the left couch with her feet just barely hanging over the edge of the cushion. Ianto thought she looked adorable, of course he knew better than to voice that opinion. Jason sat next to Lily giving Ianto an unsettling look. On the other couch sat a petite blond girl who looked about 18. Of course Ianto knew that didn't mean anything. Her hair had bright pink streaks going through it and her eyes where a pale blue, Ianto sat down next to her and smiled softly.

Jason broke the silence, "Ianto Jones this is Aria Miller," he said indicating the girl.

"Nice to meet you," Ianto said always remembering his manners.

Lily coughed beside Jason as if to remind him of something. "Oh yes, Ianto this little lady formally known as Lily has switched her name, yet again, to Lavender."

Ianto smiled at Lavender, "that is a beautiful name," he said causing her to grin from ear to ear.

"Okay," said Jason, "let's get down to business shall we." He clapped his hands together and moved forward on the couch out of the relaxed pose he had been in.

"What is about to be discussed here is highly classified," he started.

"There's a shocker," said Ianto. Lily and Aria both giggled.

Jason rolled his eyes but continued as if there had been no interruption. "I have gotten wind of a rebellion group forming in Cardiff. As of right now there are approximately 20 members, all local most in their first life."

"What's their plan?" said Ianto at full attention now.

"A big reveal," said Jason.

"Fuck," Ianto whispered. Lavender tut-tuted at him. Ianto looked at her. "You say bad words," he pouted.

She retorted with, "I am 80 years your senior, I can say as many naughty words as I want." She then, with all the grace of a 5 year old, stuck her tongue at him.

"Anyway," interrupted Jason, "back to the serious manner at hand," he picked up two manila folders off the coffee table and handed one each to both Ianto and Aria. "In these files is information about members of the reveal rebellion, as Lavender has decided to call it. You both have a different set of members as do I. It will be your responsibility to relocate all the members with in your file before the end of this month."

Ianto's mouth opened in shock. "You can't be serious," he said to Jason, he then looked at Lavender. "You approved this?" The ancient girl nodded then said sadly, "It's the only way."

Ianto fell back into the couch defeated. He was about to be a murderer. He looked over at Aria she hadn't reacted at all, "and you're okay with this" he said to her. She just nodded.

"How old are you?" he asked.

"19," she answered.

He looked back at Jason, "she is only 19 and you are asking her to murder people!"

"It's not murder, Ianto!" Lavender yelled at him before Jason could comment.

"It's going to look like murder to the police," he retorted.

"No," said Jason, "It's going to look like 20 missing persons cases. After you have relocated them you are to bring their bodies back here. We will place them in the meat freezer in the basement and once six weeks have passed we will have no more bodies. There is no other way Jones, you know that if these people are allowed to continue with their plans the consequences would be catastrophic."

Ianto couldn't argue that point. If the rift children were to be revealed to the world it would only be a matter of time before scientists, like Tosh, figured out exactly how to repeat the events that create rift children. Then pregnant women all over the world would be heading to rifts to give their unborn children everlasting life. Then before anyone knew what hit them history and time lines and fixed points would all be messed up, due to the massive amount of people all traveling through time and space, it would cause complete chaos and the end of the universe.

Ianto nodded his head at Jason to show that he understood. "Just so you know, I will be questioning each of the members I have been assigned. If I figure out that the reveal rebellion is just a bunch of bull you made up so you could get rid of people you dislike, then the only one I will be relocating is you." he said staring straight at Jason.

Jason smiled, "I wouldn't expect anything less from one of my charges."

TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW

When Ianto finally made it back to the hub it was noon and he had Chinese food. He spotted the team in the boardroom when he walked in so he joined them. Jack was sitting at the head of the table shaking a perfume bottle that would glow with every shake. Ianto didn't want to know.

He sat the food on the table and started handing the different containers to their owners.

"You're supposed to be resting," said Owen taking his fried rice with pork.

Ianto rolled his eyes, "yet you are still sitting here waiting for lunch. Like some fairy is just going to deliver it to you."

"One just did," said Owen pointing at Ianto.

Ianto had set himself up for that one, so he gave the win to Owen with another roll of his eyes and sat down to eat.

Jack sat the perfume bottle down in front of the doctor. "Test it on some rats. See what it does," he said to Owen. He hadn't even acknowledged Ianto and the young man tried to pretend like he didn't care.

"Alright Tosh, what do you got for me. Can you beat glowing perfume?" He winked at her.

She smiled, "well I have detected some kind of device at the bottom of the bay, looks like it may have been there for years."

"ooo, bottom of the bay, you know what that means Owen?" Jack said happily.

"That Tosh has won because you now get to use that bloody sub," said Owen handing Tosh 20 quid from his wallet.

"Sub?" question Ianto his eyebrow raised.

"Yep," said Jack, Ianto tried to ignore the delight he got from Jack finally acknowledging him as Jack continued speaking. "You want to go on a submarine ride Ianto?"

That's how Ianto found himself at the bottom of the bay in a small submarine with only Jack Harkness to keep him company.

"Okay Tosh, we have reached the bottom," said Jack into his com.

"All right I am releasing Dredge now," came Tosh's reply.

"Dredge?" questioned Ianto.

"Ya, he dredges the bottom of the bay brings us back stuff, comes in handy really. Use to have to do it with big nets, took forever." Jack said widening out the last word.

"Clever name," Ianto said sarcastically.

Jack grinned and put his hand on Ianto's thigh.

"Tosh, how long should this take" he said smiling mischievously at Ianto.

"20 or 30 minutes," Tosh said. Jack turned off his com unit.

He then moved his hand to Ianto's groin and softly squeezed.

Ianto suppressed a moan and reached up to make sure his com. was also turned off; As Jack wedged himself into the small area in front of Ianto's seat. Ianto looked down at the man kneeling in front of him staring at him intently. "What are you doing sir," Ianto said trying to keep his breath steady. Jack didn't say anything he just kept his eyes locked on Ianto's. He started to undo the button on Ianto's trousers and Ianto realized exactly what Jack was planning.

TW-TW-TW-TW-TW

Soon after Ianto and Jack made it back to the hub with two new artifacts in hand, the team found themselves gathered around Susie's work station as she examined the artifacts. One was a metal glove that looked like it might have belonged to a knight in shining armor. The other was a very lethal looking knife that was made of the same type of metal as the glove, which Susie assured them wasn't from earth.

They both gave Ianto the creeps.

"Tea-boy," Owen said beside him, "med bay for a check-up now."

Ianto didn't try and argue. It would be better to do it now while the rest of the team was distracted with the new toys. That way they wouldn't hear what Ianto knew Owen was going to say.

Once in the med bay Ianto sat up on the autopsy table as Owen ran the Bekaran deep-tissue scanner over his head. Once he was done the doctor stood back and crossed his arm over his chest. "Your brain seems fine, could be because I caught you before you hit your head." He said giving Ianto his 'I'm a serious doctor' face. "So did you have a flashback?" He then asked.

"I don't have post-traumatic stress disorder Owen," Ianto stated firmly.

"Really," Owen said frowning at him, "and where did you get your medical degree from?"

Ianto just glared. Since Ianto's first day Owen had been on about Ianto having PTSD it annoyed the younger man.

Owen continued speaking when he realized Ianto wasn't going to answer. "I watched the CCTV. Before you fainted you came out of the incinerator room. You know that hot big thing that burns stuff. Perfect place for you to have a flashback don't you think." Owen touched the spot on Ianto's chest where he had a burn scar from Canary Wharf.

"So let me ask you again," Owen said slowly, "Did you have a flashback?"

Ianto realized that saying yes was going to be the only way to hide why he had really fainted, because he really couldn't just come out and say, 'I figured out that our boss is a torturing murderer and possibly over 100 years old.'

"Yes," Ianto said.

"If I give you some medication to help combat the PTSD will you take it?" Owen asked.

Ianto shook his head.

"Why not," Owen screeched clearly irritated.

"Because I don't have PTSD," Ianto reaffirmed.

Owen rubbed his hand over his face. "Fine, you have a clean bill of health, go make coffee or whatever else you do around here."


	7. Chapter 7

It was a week later when Ianto found himself about to complete his first relocation. He had memorized every piece of information about all five members of the Reveal Rebellion he was in charge of taking out. For his first target he had chosen Sarah Higgins, for two reasons one she would be the easiest and two she would also be the hardest.

Sarah Higgins was 19 years old and attended Cardiff University majoring in history. This was her first life, she had a mother, father, and little sister and Ianto was hyperaware of the fact that he was about to take her away from them.

He had been watching her every night for the last week and he knew that at 10 pm she always left her dorm for a late night run, which is why he was now waiting for her in the shadow cast by her three story dorm building.

It was when she turned the corner that he grabbed her. She didn't have time to react as he pressed the chloroform covered rag to her face and her body went limp in his arms. He then lifted her into a fireman's hold and walked to his car placing her gently into the trunk and securing her arms with hand cuffs behind her back. He closed the trunk, got into the driver's seat and drove out of town.

When he reached the predefined field he had chosen he drove onto it and parked his car by a single tree. He turned on his car's interior lights. He knew he was far enough away from the main road that no passing cars would see them.

It was then that she started screaming. He couldn't help but roll his eyes. He knew that she had been in training as a Rift Child since she was 12 so it was odd to him that she was panicking. If he woke up and found himself locked in a trunk he wouldn't scream. He would have been trying to pop the trunk from the inside while remaining as quiet as possible. Not that that tactic would work for her because he had disengaged that feature of his car. Clearly she wasn't trained as well as him. He looked at himself in the rearview mirror. He must be going crazy because he had just complemented Jason, even if it was just in his head.

He climbed into the back seat and released one of the seats so it came down to reveal his trunk. Sarah stopped screaming.

"Who are you?" she asked.

He didn't answer he just reached in and pulled her out in to the back seat. She started fighting the moment she was free of the trunk. He pushed her face first into the back of the passenger seat. He put his face close to her ear. "If you stop fighting I will release your hands." She stopped fighting. He reached into his inner jacket pocket and took out the cuffs key. He used it to undo her hands.

Ianto clicked the backseat back up. He then pointed to the seat right behind the passenger seat and looked at the girl who was kneeling in the floor board rubbing her wrists. "Sit there and be calm or I will cuff your hands again," he said trying to sound demanding. It must have worked because she nodded her head and did what she was told.

Ianto reached into the passenger's seat and grabbed the advanced lie detector he had 'borrowed' from Jack. He placed it in the middle seat and he sat back in the seat behind the driver. He began setting it up. Ianto guessed Sarah thought that he was far enough from her that she should be able to make it out of the car and get a good head start because she started trying to open the back door. She was unsuccessful of course because Ianto had enabled the child safety locks.

He raised an eyebrow at her, "are you quite finished?" he asked. She looked at him and promptly started sobbing uncontrollably. Ianto sighed he hated seeing a woman cry.

"Okay," he said trying to ignore her sobs. "As I am sure you know, I am a Rift Child like you," She nodded.

He decided to just be diplomatic about this, "Sarah Higgins, you have been accused of conspiring to reveal the truth about the Children of the Rift, how do you plea?"

"What?" she sobbed.

Ianto ran his hand through his hair, "look hold this," he handed her a small black cylinder, "I am going to ask you a simple yes or no question and you answer it then we will be able to wrap this up."

She nodded. "Are you apart of a rebellion group that is hell-bent on revealing Rift Children to the world?" he asked.

"No," she said still sobbing. The machine glowed red, which meant she was lying.

"How about you answer truthfully," he said.

"I just wanted to let my future children to live forever like me," she sobbed. "Please don't relocate me please!" Tears started to fall from Ianto's eyes.

"I have no choice," he said to her. She clearly wasn't going to give up without a fight because she started trying to go over the passenger's seat to get to the front of the car. He rose up from his seat and grabbed her crying just as hard as her now. She turned slightly and punched him in the mouth. It hurt put it didn't deter him he quickly had her back in her seat keeping her there with one hand while the other reached for the syringe of weevil sedative in his suit pocket, harmless to weevils but deadly to humans. He flipped the cap off of the needle with his thumb. "It's not going to hurt, it's just going to be like falling asleep," he said.

Sarah stopped fighting and started shaking her head at him, "please don't," she pleaded, but he did.

He moved back to the front seat once her heart stopped beating his tears never ceasing. He felt like a monster. Like a piece of his soul had died. He took a deep breath and started the drive to Lavender's. He could see Sarah's body in the rearview. She looked as if she had fallen asleep after a long car ride; he had even buckled her in.

When he reached Lavender's house he parked his car near the back door. The door to the kitchen opened and Ianto saw the silhouette of a man, it was Jason. He walked down the few short steps and over to the driver's door of Ianto's car. He opened it and pulled Ianto out softly and engulfing him in a hug. Ianto didn't try to pull away he just laid his head on Jason's shoulder and cried quietly. "You go inside and sit with Lavender and I will take care of the rest," Jason said softly into Ianto's ear. Ianto nodded as he pried himself away from Jason and turned to walk into the house.

TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW

Ianto woke up on one of Lavender's couches in her front parlor. He looked at his watch, 8:37, shit he thought. He had stayed up late into the night with Lavender and Jason, eating dark chocolate and watching James Bond movies. Lavender had turned in about half way through the first movie and Ianto seemed to have fallen asleep during the second. He vaguely remembered leaning against Jason as he drifted into much needed sleep.

The way Jason had behaved the night before was exactly how he would behave after a tough training exercise when Ianto was still half-way in love with the man. He wasn't anywhere near in love with the man now, but last night had been comforting like listening to a song your mom use to sing to you.

Ianto sighed as he stopped reminiscing and remembered how late he was for work. Of the several months that Ianto had worked at Torchwood 3 he had only been late once and that had been the day after he fainted, plus Jack had known he was going to be late. Now he was over an hour late and he would have to use another hour to get himself presentable.

This was why it was nearly 10:30 before he finally walk through the cog door. Owen was the first to acknowledge him.

"Oi, tea-boy were the hell have you been we need coffee," the doctor yelled.

Ianto didn't answer the question he just went straight to the coffee machine, he needed coffee too. As he made coffee for himself and the team he tried not to think. Of course that just made him think more. He thought of Lisa, down in her dungeon, he thought of Jason and how it was possible to hate someone yet still receive comfort from their presence. He thought about Sarah Higgins, was her second life better or worse than her first life. Thought of Sarah just made him think of the four other rebels he needed to relocate. His thoughts than drifted to Jack, how he felt things for the man that he shouldn't, how the man had cornered him in the archives two days ago and the oh so amazing things the man could do with his mouth.

When the coffees were ready he went to deliver them. He stopped first at Susie's station. She was looking between the glove Dredge had salvaged and a dead fly on her table. She looked up at him when he sat his coffee beside her.

"Ianto when you get a chance I need a dead rat. Preferably one that's freshly dead," she said to him. Ianto just nodded resisting the urge to tell her that was the oddest thank you he had ever received.

Ianto headed to Tosh's station next. Owen was there currently asking a stuffed tiger that sat on Tosh's desk how to properly reboot a Torchwood computer. He looked up when Ianto approached.

"What happened to your face," the doctor asked referring to the busted lip Ianto had received from Sarah the night before.

"What happened to your dignity," asked Ianto gesturing between Owen and the stuffed tiger he had been just talking to.

Tosh giggled from her chair. Owen took his coffee from Ianto's tray while scowling at the back of Tosh's head. "She won't answer any of my questions until I ask the bloody tiger," he answered.

Ianto smiled and placed Tosh's coffee beside her. She looked back and nodded her head at him. "Pub fight," he said gesturing to his lip, "defending a lady's honor." Then with a wink at Tosh he headed towards Jacks office.

When he entered Jack's office Jack told him to shut the door. Ianto obeyed, sat Jack's coffee before him then sat in the chair in front of Jack's desk to enjoy his own coffee. Jack casually asked what happen to Ianto's lip and enjoyed his coffee. Ianto felt like the exchange was kind of domestic. As if they always drank coffee together and spoke of pub fights and busted lips. Then Jack shocked him.

"So you are three hours late for work, do you think that because we have this thing going on," Jack gestured between them, "that I would just let such insubordination slide?" Ianto studied Jacks face for signs that he was joking. He appeared to be totally serious.

Ianto tried to defend himself. "Technically I am only an hour and a half late; Owen is that late on almost a daily basis."

"Owen lets me fuck him over my desk, so he can do as he pleases." Jack deadpanned.

Ianto raised an eyebrow. Then Jack grinned the jerk was just messing with him. Well two can play this game Ianto thought.

"Well, how about I agree to the same treatment. Will you forgive my tardiness then, sir," Ianto retorted.

"Oh, I would enjoy nothing more, in fact let's do that now," Jack said back to looking serious.

Ianto realized that he should have made his escape the moment he figured out that Jack was just teasing instead of trying to play a game he would surly lose. Ianto backed into the closed door when Jack got up from his desk and started towards him. He looked out Jacks windowed office and could plainly see Owen and Tosh. Jack couldn't seriously be about to try and bend Ianto over the desk. Ianto's breath quickened as Jack got closer, he quickly turned and opened Jack's door and practically leapt through it while calling over his shoulder, "Sorry sir, I have to go find a dead rat."

Ianto headed to the basement of the hub to try and complete the task Susie had set for him. He had rat traps set up all over the hub but the basement usually had more luck catching them, and today luck was on Ianto's side. Returning to the main hub Ianto sat down a plastic bag containing the dead rat on Susie's desk. She didn't acknowledge him only the bag. She opened it and the rat fell out onto her desk. She then put on the glove and touched the dead creature with it. It began to squeak and thrash around for a few seconds then it went back to being dead.

Ianto jumped back, "What the hell was that," he asked Susie.

Susie looked at him with pure excitement in her eyes, "this glove brings things back from the dead," she answered.

"And you are happy about this," Ianto said still staring at the rat with a bit of fear.

"Yes, imagine the possibilities," she answered as she got up from her seat and headed towards Jacks office.

Ianto could imagine the possibilities and that is what frightened him and made him want to put the glove into the secure archives or possible destroy it. Ianto broke out of his thoughts when he heard Jack yell for him.

He walked over to Jacks office and stuck his head into the door way. "You hallored sir," he said to Jack trying not to look at Jack's desk, which proved difficult as the said man was currently sitting behind it.

"I do not 'hallor,' I yell in a very manly fashion," Jack said pouting a bit.

"Of course, you yelled in a very manly fashion, sir," Ianto said not even trying to hide the grin on his face.

"Yes, I need you to go round up some more dead rats and bring them to the medical bay. We are going to try out this new trick of Susie's," Jack said.

This time when Ianto went to the basement he had to look harder to find the little bastards. He even ripped his suit jacket while squeezing in to one particular crevice. So by the time Ianto was heading back to the main hub holding a Torchwood evidence bag filled with five dead rats, he was the picture of a pissed off Welshman. He put on his calm, cool, and collected mask right before he descended the steps into the medical bay.

He placed the bag on the autopsy table and tried not to wonder how long the rest of the team had been standing there waiting on his return. The bastards could have helped, he thought as he looked at them all clean and no tears on their clothing. No one even said thank you.

"Alright," said Jack as he began to take the rats out of the bag and line them up across the table, "who wants to go first?" No one spoke up and Ianto even took a step back. Jack just grinned. He retrieved the glove from Susie and put it on. He gently touched the first rat in the line. Ianto was prepared for the thing to start thrashing around but it didn't. Jack took off the glove with a pout and handed it to Owen.

Both Owen and Tosh tried and failed. When it was Ianto's turn he reluctantly put the glove on. It was cold and gave him a creeped out feeling. He sighed in relief when he touched his rat and it remained quite dead. He quickly passed the glove on to Susie.

Susie took it happily and slipped it on. She waited a few seconds before touching her rat, but when she did the thing came back to life just like the other one Ianto had witnessed her touch. Everyone stared in fascination until the thing once again returned to being dead.

Susie broke the silence, "why do you think it only works for me," she asked Jack.

He pondered for a second then answered, "Maybe it has something to do with your personality."

"Ya, maybe being a bitch is a requirement," Owen said.

"Sod off Owen," Susie retorted.

By the end of the day Ianto was sure he had single handedly fixed Torchwood's rat problems. He had even resorted to stealing some of Owen's lab rats, much to the doctor's dismay. In the end Susie had managed to keep a rat alive for 1 minute and 20 seconds. Ianto had been in charge of the stop watch.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: okay serious Janto action at the end of this chapter if you don't want to read it stop at 'He pulled Jack's… braces off, lol. I will inform you once again that smut is not my strong suit. Anyway I will try and update on Friday, but it may not be till Sunday, because my beautiful cousin is tying the knot this weekend and I am on flower duty.

Disclaimers: I don't own Torchwood

Spoilers: Cyber woman,

Warnings: slash, M/M, mature people only please, mentions of murder, probably a few bad words, shooting of a firearm

It was three days after Susie's discovery and Ianto was glad that everyone had seemed to lose interest in the creepy glove, everyone except Susie that is. The whole team was gathered in the board room when Susie tried to peak everyone's interest once again.

"There have been a string of disappearances here in Cardiff," she started, Ianto inwardly groaned. Susie started handing identical files to everyone except Ianto. Owen was right, Susie was a down right bitch, Ianto thought.

"I was thinking," Susie continued staring straight at Jack, "That if we found one of these victims' bodies than we could use the glove on it." Ianto tried to keep his breathing steady and his mask in place as he looked over Tosh's shoulder and saw a glossy photo of Sarah Higgins. Ianto knew exactly where the victims' bodies were.

Jack cleared his throat and looked back at Susie. "It's a good plan but, they are only disappearances, all these people could be very much alive." Susie looked disappointed at this answer. Jack sighed, "look tell you what, if the police find a body we can test the glove on it, but I am not going to stretch our already thin resources to find missing people. That's a job for the regular coppers. We find aliens; we don't deal with demented kidnappers."

Ianto was proud of himself for keeping his mask in place throughout the meeting. He was also relived that Jack hadn't decided to search for the missing people. It made one less thing on his list to worry about.

Today was already turning out to be a really crappy day. The night before Ianto had performed a double relocation. Josh Cameron and Noah Clark, they had been lovers. This was Josh's second life so there was no telling how old he was. It was Noah's first life however; he was 26 and was a product of the Salem Town rift in America. He was sent to Cardiff as a sort of rift ambassador, Ianto figured that those in charge there were going to be pretty pissed when they found out what happened to Noah, but that wasn't Ianto's concern. Jason would deal with it.

He had gained entrance to the lovers residence under the pretense that 'when they walked by him he had felt a strange rush and didn't understand why.' The idiots had believed that Ianto was an undiscovered rift child so they had let him in to explain what he was to him. It wasn't that surprising that they fell for the scam because Ianto was good at the innocent play.

He took Josh out first using his silencer enhanced gun that he had hidden in his suit jacket. The bullet passed straight through his forehead. He then took advantage of Noah's shocked state and had injected the man with weevil sedative. He would have used it on Josh, but he knew that Josh's body would have metabolizes the sedative out before death would accrue. To kill someone not in their first life the death had to be instant.

Jason had helped him with the clean-up but it had still taken up most of the night. Ianto had only managed one hour of sleep. He had been woken from his short sleep by his phone ringing. The caller had been Michaela Smith a fellow Canary Wharf survivor. He had called to inform Ianto that a woman by the name of Katie Washington, who was also a survivor, had taken her own life. Ianto was happy the man had called to tell him that way he would be prepared when he undoubtedly saw it on the news later.

The thing that really made Ianto's day terrible had been Lisa. After hanging up with Michaela, Ianto had gotten dressed and headed to the hub. He had snuck past Jack and into the basement to change Lisa's IV bags. Lisa had woken up, crying because of the pain, she had begged him to kill her. He had managed to hold his tears in and assured her that they would get through this, that he had found a doctor that would heal her. It was only a matter of time. When he had left her room she was sedated. He allowed himself to cry for a few minutes against her door before composing himself and putting on his perfect employee mask.

It was after the morning meeting that his mask finally fell to the floor and busted into a million tiny pieces. He was attempting to make coffee for the third time that day but the machine wasn't cooperating. He jiggled the handle a little and the thing sputtered a bit then promptly died. Ianto remained calm as he walked to the cog door and ascended in the elevator and he remained calm as the elevator came back down and he walked back to the coffee machine now firmly holding the hand gun he kept in the tourist center. He raised the gun with determination and pointed it directly at the now dead coffee machine. He emptied his guns magazine into the machine.

Ianto was unaware of the voices around him, he was unaware that all four of his team mates had their own weapons drawn and were pointing them at him. He just kept pulling his now empty guns trigger over and over. Finally he felt a hand on his wrist and he relinquished the gun to it.

He felt a fear that wasn't his own rush through him. He laughed a little hysterical laugh at the fact that Jack seemed to be frightened of him. He looked back at the man who was now standing very close to Ianto still gently holding the young man's wrist. It was Jack's face that pushed him back in to reality. What he had just done began to come to the surface. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Owen standing at the top of the stairs gun still pointing towards him. Ianto closed his eyes as he felt tears starting to fall from them. He couldn't think of a way out of this situation.

Jack pulled him close turning his body his body so he could engulf him fully in a hug. Ianto let the sobs that had been threatening to surface free, his face pressed against Jack's chest thoroughly soaking the older man's shirt. Ianto's knees went out and he crumbled to the floor Jack came with him pulling Ianto even closer and cradling his head. Jack started whispering reassuring things against Ianto's cheek. Ianto couldn't quite make out what they were but they were comforting and before he knew it his sobs started to subside.

Ianto felt someone else's hand gently touch his back. He reluctantly turned away from Jack and locked eyes with Owen. The doctor smiled gently, which only made Ianto feel like a mental patient. "I am sorry mate; I should have been watching you closer today. I am assuming this was brought on by Katie Washington?" He said. Ianto nodded.

Owen shined a light into Ianto's eyes. "Are your ears ringing? Mine are, those gun shots where loud."

Ianto shook his head. Owen nodded, "that's normal, you had adrenaline running through your veins, you may still get a headache though." Ianto could already feel one building behind his eyes. He leaned his head back against Jacks chest and closed his eyes.

"Alright Harkness, let's get him to a medical suite," Owen's voice said, and that was the last thing he heard as he let himself fall into a much needed sleep.

TW-TW-TW-TW

When Ianto woke up it was with a sense of deja-vu. He was in the same medical suite as before except this time he was very much alone, and he was wearing track bottoms and a t-shirt. He stretched and got out of the bed. He felt a lot better, it's amazing what a good few hours of sleep could do for your soul, he thought.

He searched the room for his doc martins; he found them by the wardrobe. He quickly slipped them on then looked at his watch. 5:30, hmm, he could probably get some work done. He opened the wardrobe to get his suit realizing that he should have waited to put his shoes on. His suit wasn't there, he frowned.

When he had closed the wardrobe he walked with purpose to the suites door. He swung it open and headed to the main hub. When he got there he heard voices in Jacks office so he went there. He leaned against Jack's doorframe and looked at the rest of the team. Both Owen and Susie were by the alien video game fighting over who had the high score. Tosh was sitting in the chair across from Jack's desk watching the pair with amusement. Jack himself was sitting at his desk now staring intently at Ianto. Ianto smiled shyly.

"Hey sleepy head did you have a good nap?" Jack asked his voice light and soft making Ianto feel like a child who had had a tantrum before finally falling to sleep. Ianto felt that it was a bit true. He had indeed had a tantrum.

Ianto nodded at Jack then looked down at the t-shirt and track bottoms he was wearing. "I seem to have lost my suit," he said. Jack raised his eyebrows as if to say he had no clue where it was, so Ianto shifted his gaze to Owen.

Owen grinned at him, "well I took it, didn't want you to try and sneak out and I knew you wouldn't go out into public wearing your Doc Martins with track bottoms."

Ianto frowned, Owen was very right, Ianto would walk outside the way he was dressed now when hell froze over and not a second before. "Can I have it back," he said to Owen.

"Ya, it's in your locker," Owen answered. Ianto sighed in relief that was his favorite suit.

Ianto walked the rest of the way into Jack's office and leaned against Jack's desk. He turned and looked at the man. "So what did I miss," he asked.

Before Jack could answer Susie butted in excitedly, "I resurrected a murder victim."

Ianto raised his eyebrows at her, "exciting," he deadpanned. She just nodded at him.

Jack hid a laugh with a cough then said, "I think we have all had enough excitement for one day, let's all turn in."

Susie, Tosh, and Owen all hurried out of Jack's office and to the cog door. Ianto waited till the rolling door closed behind them before he look back at Jack. Jack winked at him then got up from his chair to walk around the desk and stand in front of Ianto. He gently pushed Ianto back so he was sitting fully on the desk. He then settled between the Welshman's knees putting one hand on Ianto's back while the other went to Ianto's cheek to gently caress it. Ianto leaned into the soft touch and rested his hands on Jacks hips.

Jack moved his head forward so that his lips were barely and inch from Ianto's. "You want to talk about it," Jack asked softly.

Ianto wanted nothing more than to shake his head, but he felt like he should give Jack something. "When one of the survivors gives up it always makes me want to join them. To admit that there is nothing left to…" Ianto's words were cut off by Jack's lips crashing against his. Ianto surrendered to the kiss immediately. He pulled the older man closer realizing at that moment how much he needed to lose himself in Jack Harkness.

He pulled Jack's braces off his shoulders causing the man's touch to leave him briefly. It came back almost immediately pulling up the t-shirt Ianto was wearing. The men broke their kiss as they both tried to remove Ianto's t-shirt. When the task was done Ianto went to work on the buttons of Jacks shirt with desperation. When the buttons were undone Jack shook the shirt off and let it fall to the floor, he then tore off his undershirt and let it also join the pile of clothing on the floor.

Ianto pull Jack back against him moaning at the feeling of skin on skin. They crashed their lips back together and kissed with more passion as if trying to make up for the time their lips had been apart. Jack gently laid Ianto back on the desk grinding greedily against him. Ianto moaned and wished more than anything he had the ability to make clothing disappear. Ianto leaned up on his elbows as he watched Jack remove his shoes.

"Owen is right, this is a crime against fashion," Jack teased. Ianto giggled. Jack dropped the shoes and then pulled Ianto's track bottoms and boxers off with one go. Ianto felt really exposed but he lost interest in that feeling as he watched Jack remove his trousers. Before long the man stood before him naked as the day he was born. Ianto didn't even try to hide the fact that he was staring. Jack leaned over Ianto and opened the top drawer of his desk pulling out a small bottle, Ianto knew instantly was lube.

Ianto watched Jack again as he placed a small amount of the liquid on one of his fingers. Ianto gasped when Jack touched his entrance. Though it wasn't Ianto's first time like Jack thought, it had been a while. "Just relax," Jack said softly as he bent his head back to Ianto's and locked their lips again. Jack then started the gently prepare Ianto and it wasn't long before Ianto was pushing against Jack's fingers.

When Jack removed his fingers and leaned back up Ianto couldn't help the whine that came from him. Jack just smiled as he slicked up his member. He then gently steadied Ianto's hips with one hand while he used the other to line himself up with Ianto's entrance. He then gently and slowly pushed inside the Welshman. Ianto closed his eyes as he became accustomed to the feeling.

Jack kept his hips still as he leaned down so that their chests were once again touching. Ianto warp his legs firmly around Jack's torso to encourage him to move. Jack started to slowly thrust. He moved his head so his lips were close to Ianto's ear. "Live for me, Ianto," he whispered. Ianto moaned, was he supposed to be able to form a coherent answer for that. Jack started to increase the speed of his thrusts brushing against Ianto's prostate in a wonderful way. Ianto knew he wasn't going to last much longer.

"Please, Ianto," Jack whispered. Ianto did answer this time. "Yes." he moaned and then he came coating his and Jack's chest. Jack thrust a few more times then came moaning in to Ianto's neck as he did.

Jack removed himself from Ianto then returned to a standing position. He pulled the Welshman up and wrapped him in an embrace placing his lips next to Ianto's ear again. "Was that a reason to live Ianto," he asked.

Ianto was still trying to get his breathing to return to normal so when he answered he sounded winded, "Yes, Jack that is a fantastic reason to live."


	9. Chapter 9

AN: Okay for those of you who didn't read chapter 8.5 (posted on lj page only) I have included a slight summary. A lot of things happen in this chapter and it kind of ends of a cliff hanger. Sorry. As always I love comments.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood

Spoilers: none

Warnings: murder kind of, curse words.

Summary of Ch. 8.5

Ianto and Jack have a lot of Janto fun. Only thing of any real value that happens was Jack found a photo of Ianto and Jason and now thinks Jason is just a friend of Ianto's not to important.

Chapter 9

Jack got off the bed as Ianto felt his heartbeat return to normal. It began to go back up when he watched Jack walk out of the room leaving Ianto tied to the bed.

"Jack," he called after the man. Jack just chuckled and continued out of the room.

Ianto kept his breathing steady. It's not like Jack was going anywhere he left all his clothes on the bedroom floor.

"Comfy," Jack asked when he walked back into the room 3 minutes later. He was holding a wet dish cloth. He bent down by the bed and began to gently clean Ianto's chest and stomach off.

"Is the game over, sir," Ianto asked not taking any chances.

Jack smiled, "Yep."

"Then no I am not comfy, untie me," Ianto said half laughing.

Jack put the dish cloth on the bedside table and untied Ianto.

Ianto sighed as he slid off the bed and pulled the duvet and flat sheet back.

"That was fun," he said as he slid under the covers holding them up slightly so Jack could join him.

Jack crawled into the bed and pulled the Welshman close. "Ya it was," he whispered and then he softly kiss Ianto's forehead. Ianto laid his head on Jack's chest, he felt totally content.

"This day ended a lot better than it began," Ianto mused.

"Ya," Jack sighed he shifted a bit under Ianto and then began to softly play with Ianto's hair. "I should have made you guys my responsibility, instead of letting unit take control," he whispered.

Ianto stayed silent for a moment. He could feel his contented feeling slipping away as he remembered Canary Wharf. He realized this would be the perfect time to see if he could trust Jack with the knowledge of Lisa.

"There were about 20 machines that shut down mid-conversion, 20 half converted people. I could hear them screaming in pain as I ran through the building after the battle was over. I came upon one. Grint Ruthers, he worked in the archives with me. A unit solider had reached him before me. I got there just in time to see the man execute Grint with a shot to the head. Would you have killed them like that Jack?" Ianto said.

Jack remained silent. Ianto looked up to see if the man had maybe drifted off, but he hadn't. His blue eyes stared intensely into Ianto's. Finally he answered, "Yes."

That proved to Ianto that he was doing the right thing hiding Lisa.

There was an awkward silence for a minute then Ianto broke it with a change of subject, "I've never had guns pointed at me before today, now I get to add it to my 'cool secret agent stuff that has happened to me' list."

Jack grinned and slightly raised his eyebrows, "Hate to break it to you Ianto, but we were pointing our guns at the evil coffee machine. It was obviously a menace."

Ianto laughed then laid his head back onto Jack's chest. After a few minutes he was asleep. It was the best night's sleep he had gotten in a long time.

TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW

It was two nights later and Ianto was running through the alleyways of Cardiff. He and Jason were trying to relocate the fourth member of the Reveal Rebellion on Ianto's hit list. He could hear Jason's trainers running beside him on the wet pavement.

"I am going to circle around that building and try and cut him off," Jason yelled. Ianto just nodded towards the man's voice and continued to run after Humberto Polo.

Mr. Polo was in his first life and he was 45. Ianto figured the guy would be willing to go, how old did he want to be for eternity anyway, but when he had followed Humberto in to a bar just to observe him the man must have sensed him because he had pushed Ianto into a table and ran making Ianto realize that the man wasn't going to go without a fight, which is why he had called in Jason to help him.

Humberto took a right and Ianto continued after him realizing there was no way Jason would be able to cut the man off now. He almost laughed in relief when he saw that the man had run into a dead end alley. He slowed to a walk and took the syringe full of weevil sedative out of his suit pocket.

"It's not going to hurt," he said gently to the obviously frightened man.

Humberto shook his head in defiance. "I will not be relocated tonight, especially not by a child like you," his voice was thick with Spanish accent. He was from a rift in Peru. Another ambassador, Ianto thought, maybe Cardiff should close its borders.

Ianto realized that the man was trying to intimidate him. Ianto wasn't amused. He took a step forward. Humberto took a step back, proving to Ianto that the man was frightened.

"We all know about you Ianto Jones," the man continued, "fuck toy to the second in command. He trained you well from what I hear you are now undercover as a fuck toy to the head of Torchwood. So what are you going to do Jones, it seems to me the only thing you are good at is summiting to the real men."

Ianto dropped the weevil sedative and lunged at the man. The men rolled on the ground Humberto managing to punch Ianto once in the face. Finally Ianto pinned the man face down into the concrete. He leaned down to his ear and whispered "if you remember one thing in your next life, remember that Ianto Jones is no one's sex toy." He then snapped the man's neck immediately ending Mr. Polo's first life.

He looked up to see Jason standing at the entrance of the alleyway. He looked like a proud father who had just watched his son score the winning goal of a game. "You are a bad ass Ianto Jones," he said his face practically glowing with pride. Ianto didn't comment.

TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW

Ianto waited until they had finished depositing Humberto's body into the basement freezer of Lavender's house before he found the nearest bathroom and puked into the toilet. He could still hear the sound of the man's neck breaking. He vomited again.

The door to the bathroom opened and he felt Jason's hand on his back slowly rubbing it in circles. Ianto flushed the toilet and stood up facing Jason.

"He was right," Ianto said, "I was your sex toy, always willing from the moment you prevented me from boarding that bus to London."

Jason looked taken aback by Ianto's words. "You were never a toy," he said sounding a bit hurt.

"It's okay, Jason," Ianto said softly as he tried to move past the older man to get to the door. Jason prevented him from doing so by shutting the door and leaning against it.

"Please let me go home, I don't want to fight with you. I just want to get in my bed and attempt to forget that I snapped a man's neck. Attempt to forget how fucked up this life is. Attempt to forget why it hurts so much to look at you," Ianto said the volume of his voice increasing with each word.

"Why does it hurt to look at me, Ianto," Jason said his voice small and calm.

"It's all your fault," Ianto said his voice at a low volume now and slightly cracking.

"What," Jason asked.

"Everything, if you had just let me get on that bus…" Ianto began but his words were cut off by Jason holding up his hand in a stop motion.

"I am not letting you do this, use me as some scapegoat so you can have someone to blame. I didn't sign you up for this life nor did I sign myself up. It's tough, I'll admit that, but we have to deal and survive through it, because we have no choice. I trained you so you would be prepared, but there really is no way to prepare. You will lose everything and everyone you know. The only thing you won't ever lose is your own life. It sucks, but I didn't do it to you, there is no one to blame." Jason said keeping his voice level the whole time.

Ianto had placed his head in his hands and sank to the floor as he listened to Jason's monologue. When Jason finished he looked up at the man and nodded in understanding. Though it was hard to admit, Jason was right.

When Ianto finally made it home he actually felt a bit at peace. It seemed that he and Jason had a new understanding and he found that he didn't hate the man quite as much as before.

TW-TW-TW-TW-TW

Ianto sat at the table in the board room the next morning pretending to listen to Tosh babble on about some sort of tech she had retrieved the day before. Usually Ianto would have found this interesting but his mind was elsewhere today.

He kept remembering parts of last night. Jason and him had talked late into the night. Mostly about unimportant stuff but a few important topics would crop up every so often. Ianto had been pleasantly surprised when Jason had actually apologized, not for training him the way he did but for not properly explaining the reasons behind the tough training. Ianto had partly forgiven him.

Ianto had discussed his connection to Jack. Jason didn't know what caused it but he did know that Jack was a lot older than he looked, but as far as he knew none of the other rift children who had come in contact with Jack had this type of reaction, but he was pretty sure none of them had been that close to the Captain.

The last thing they had talked about was the last member of the reveal rebellion on Ianto's list. Lucy McCampbell, she was in her third life, she had also been the Guardian of Sarah Higgins. She had been responsible for ensuring that Sarah was prepared for the life she would have to lead. Ianto was sure she hadn't done this job very well and Jason had agreed. After little discussion, Jason determined that he would make Lucy his personal responsibility, which was fine with Ianto because that meant he would be finished with his list. That thought made him want to sigh in relief, one less thing to worry about.

Ianto refocused on the meeting when Tosh sat down beside him. He smiled sweetly at her as if he had enjoyed her little tech rant. He looked down at the file that Tosh had given him. He made a note to go over it later just so he would be able to talk with her about it. He enjoyed talking to her.

He looked up at the other side of the table when Susie stood up.

"What do you have for us Susie," Jack asked. Ianto could hear the irritation in his voice. All Susie ever talked about anymore was that glove and it was getting on everyone's nerves.

"Well I was thinking we could try and revive some of the frozen operatives we have in the morgue with the glove," she said. No one even tried to hide their groans of annoyance.

"No," Jack said firmly.

"Why not," said Susie sounding like a toddler.

"Because those people all died in the line of duty and we are not going to disrespect their memories by using them as lab rats," Jack said remaining calm.

"It's not like we knew any of them," Susie retorted.

Jack rose half way from his chair and pointed at Susie, "I said no and that is final, I don't want to hear about that glove again unless there is another murder in Cardiff then we can use it, but that will be the only reason. Do you understand?"

Susie nodded and sat down crossing her arms over her chest looking like a defiant teenager.

Ianto chanced a slight look at Jack as Owen got up to go over an autopsy report. He had on his 'I'm a tough Captain' mask. Ianto realized that there was a good chance that Jack did know every single person in the morgue. Ianto inwardly cringed. He knew one day he would also know that many dead people.

TW-TW-TW-TW-TW

It was six weeks to the day since Ianto had relocated Sarah Higgins, and it was fast approaching the exact time her heart quit beating. Ianto, out of some morbid curiosity, was standing in Lavender's freezer/basement staring at the sheet that covered Sarah's body waiting to see it disappear. He believed whole heartedly that it would, he just wanted to see.

So he stood there in the cold room with his jacket pulled tightly around him trying not to blink lest he miss it. The door to the freezer opened but he didn't look away from the body of Sarah. He then felt Jason's arms wrap around him, he was too cold to try and pull away.

Jason rested his chin on Ianto's shoulder. "Aren't you cold," he asked softly. Ianto nodded. Jason tightened his grip trying to warm Ianto.

They stood in silence both watching Sarah's body. It was several minutes later when the body suddenly began to shake and a slight glow could be seen through the sheet. Ianto gasped and leaned back further into Jason. Jason chuckled. After about 30 seconds the shaking stopped and with a slight pop, all that remained was the sheet.

"How many times has that happened to you," Ianto asked Jason his voice barely a whisper. Ianto didn't know why he asked. Jason had never answered questions about his former lives.

Jason sighed, his breath landing on Ianto's neck causing the young man to shiver. "Just once," he answered.

Ianto turned his head to look at Jason's face. "Will you tell me about it," Ianto said not wanting to waste an opportunity to get answers to questions he has had since he was 16.

"Depends," Jason said grinning slightly.

"On what," Ianto said raising an eyebrow.

"Can we go somewhere warmer? I don't want you to get hypothermia again. I didn't think you were ever going to stop moaning," Jason answered.

"I wouldn't have gotten hypothermia if you hadn't thrown me into the bay," Ianto retorted pulling away from Jason and heading to the door.

"Always gotta bring up old shit," Jason huffed following Ianto out the door.

Jason caught up to Ianto in the kitchen. The Welshman was leaning against the counter staring out the window.

"Let's go to my house and I will answer any questions you have," Jason said.

"Don't think I want to know anymore," Ianto pouted continuing to stare out the window.

Jason walked over and stood directly in front of Ianto. He used his right hand to turn the young man's face towards him. "This is a onetime offer Jones," he said his voice slightly threatening.

Ianto looked at Jason trying to decide if the man was serious. "I'll get my coat," he said finally.


	10. Chapter 10

AN: Here is Chapter 10. I promise that within the next two chapters we will be heading in to the episode everything changes. I hope you are all as excited as I am. Anyway, enjoy this chapter. I like it.

Disclaimers: I don't own Torchwood

Warnings: mentions of sex, curse words, slight violence

Spoilers: none

Ianto followed Jason out of the house and towards a yellow Land Rover parked in the driveway. Jason had driven the vehicle for as long as Ianto had known him. There wasn't an area of the Land Rover that didn't remind Ianto of a sexual encounter with Jason. He stopped walking when he realized this. Jason turned to look at him and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"We are just going to talk. No sex is that clear," Ianto said.

"Yes," Jason said. He turned back toward the vehicle and started to laugh out loud. Ianto figured he had just realized why Ianto had decided to make the no sex rule.

"Oh those were some good times," Jason said turning slightly to wink at Ianto as he opened the driver's door and got in the truck.

Ianto just shrugged nonchalantly and got in to the passenger's seat. He hoped he wouldn't regret his decision to go back to his old home.

The drive to Jason's was quiet. Ianto spent most of the trip trying not to look at the steering wheel because when he did he would remember what it felt like to have his back firmly pressed against it. He was unsuccessful. Sometimes when he would remember pleasant memories of Jason he would try to counteract them with two bad ones, but stuck within the Range Rover his mind was being over whelmed with many very good memories. He didn't fret too much he knew when they got to the house he would be bombarded with several bad memories.

Finally Jason turned onto a long gravel driveway. There was a sign at the entrance that read: Sim's Home for Wayward Teens. Ianto had been one of them. Actually when Ianto lived there he had been all alone, well except for Jason. The house was more like a mansion in Ianto's opinion and it stood at the end of the drive, it looked kind of spooky at night. It remained Ianto of the first time he laid eyes on it so long ago. Ianto realized that this was going to be a night of flashbacks.

Jason drove the suv to the side of the house and into a three car garage. There were two other cars in there. Ianto wondered who they belonged to, one was a pink sedan. Ianto raised an eyebrow at Jason when he saw it.

"It's Aria's, her guardian spoils her," Jason said obviously annoyed by the car.

"Aren't you her guardian," Ianto asked.

"No, her guardian is Iden Miller," Jason said.

"Oh, I've never met him," Ianto said.

Jason just shrugged. "Come on let's go have that chat," Jason said as he got out of the vehicle.

"Wait, isn't Miller Aria's last name," Ianto asked. This didn't make sense to him if Aria had another guardian then why had Jason assigned her people to relocate seven weeks ago, did he trust that she would keep something like that from her guardian that spoiled her.

"Yes," Jason answered, "Iden married her."

Ianto could thing of about 15 more questions concerning Aria Miller, but they became unimportant as he left the garage and entered into the laundry room behind Jason. There were three sets of washers and dryers all industrial sized. There were also two other doors in the room besides the one that lead to the garage. One led to the kitchen the other lead to the basement. That basement was a thing of Ianto's nightmares. He stayed as far away from that door as he could as he followed Jason into the kitchen.

As Ianto entered the Kitchen his ears were immediately assaulted with the sound of a crying infant. Aria Miller herself stood in the middle of the kitchen franticly rocking the baby and crying just as hard as the child. She looked up hopefully when they entered. Ianto saw her frown when she laid eyes on Jason.

Ianto happened to love babies. He had also had a bit of practice with his sisters children. He walked over to her and took the baby from her gently. She gave a grateful sob, "I have tried everything she won't stop crying."

Ianto propped the little dark haired baby up onto his shoulder and started to softly pat her back. After a minute the baby let out a little burp and her crying started to subside. Thankfully Aria's did too. Ianto smiled softly at her.

"I tried burping her," she said as she rubbed a hand over her face, "I am so rubbish at being a mum."

"Remember that and use protection next time, love" Jason said rudely.

Aria seemed to be used to Jason's insults because she just ignored him as if he wasn't there and continued to address Ianto. "Her father is really good with her, he is out of town until tomorrow," she said as she gently took the now almost asleep baby from Ianto.

"How old is she," Ianto asked.

"9 weeks," Aria answered wiping a tear off the infants face.

Ianto turned and looked at Jason, "Not only did you ask a 19 year old to relocate people but you asked a girl who had a two week old baby at home. What is the matter with you," he said sternly.

Jason narrowed his eyes and glared into Ianto, "I have reasons for everything I do Jones and I am not required to answer to you," he said his tone was calm but deadly.

Ianto unknowingly took a step away from Jason and Aria quietly slipped out of the room. Coward, Ianto thought. Jason came towards Ianto and pushed him against the industrial fridge his hands gripping Ianto's forearms and holding him in place.

"Do you know what is does to me when you undermine my authority especially in front of someone still in training," Jason said close enough to Ianto's face that the Welshman could feel his hot breath.

"No, sir," Ianto said hoping the use of sir would pacify Jason.

Jason growled and then, much to Ianto's surprise, he crashed his lips against the younger man's placing a hand in his hair to hold his head in place. Ianto started trying to push Jason away but his attempts failed. His resolve to end the kiss faltered when Jason forcefully deepened it. Ianto then felt the man's hand travel to the button of his trousers. Ianto knew there would be no getting out of this.

Thankfully Aria rushed back into the kitchen just before Jason pulled Ianto's zip open. Jason reluctantly pulled away and Ianto quickly moved to the other side of the kitchen to put as much space as possible between him and Jason.

"Sorry," Aria said sounding embarrassed. She walked over to the fridge Ianto had just been pinned against and took out a baby bottle. "Forgot Ruby's bottle," she said holding it up. She then left the kitchen as quickly as possible avoiding the glare Jason was giving her.

Ianto wished the kitchen had some sort of island that he could use to keep something between himself and the other man, but unfortunately it was just an open space.

Ianto held his hand up in a stop motion when Jason began to walk towards him. "No, Jason I don't want to," he stammered.

Jason stopped walking and placed his hands on his hips, "Are you sure because it seemed like you did," he questioned.

"Yes, well no means no doesn't it," Ianto said running a hand through his hair.

"Yes, it does," Jason sighed as he walked back to the fridge and retrieved a bottle of water from it. He then shut it and leaned against it. "Do you want water," he said to Ianto as an afterthought. Ianto shook his head.

"Okay," Jason said as he opened the bottle and took a drink. "I was born in the 10th century, in the city of Kiev. I was a Bogatyr, kind of like a knight. It was nice for me, everyone viewed us as demigods," he said smiling slightly then continued, "I guess I was the only Bogatyr that really was," Ianto rolled his eyes. Jason liked to think that all rift children were part god. Ianto liked to think that Jason was an idiot.

Ianto let Jason's earlier transgression fall to the wayside due to the million and one question's that just popped into his head after Jason's confession. "Kiev, that is in Ukraine just outside of Russia," he said first. Jason nodded. Ianto smiled slightly, "How come you sound Welsh," he asked.

Jason grinned, "You don't know what kind of accents people had 11 thousand years ago."

Ianto raised his eyebrows, "I bet it wasn't Welsh, well at least not in Kiev."

Jason laughed out loud, "I was taught to speak English and Welsh by a Welshman so I picked up his accent, alright." Ianto nodded.

Ianto bit his lip slightly, "So you were born 11 thousand years ago, that is just crazy to think about."

Jason nodded, "No what is crazy is when you try to understand how I am only 81 years old."

"How did you die," Ianto questioned.

"Defending my king, I was 35, which was pretty much considered a long life back then," Jason answered.

Ianto did some quick math in his head, "so you came to Cardiff in 1959," he mused.

"Yes, it was a frightening place for me. Luckily another rift child found me, he helped me adjust," Jason said.

"Did he train you like you trained me," Ianto asked softly.

"No, I got that type of training when I was in Kiev, in a way I trained him though," Jason said suddenly very interested in his bottle of water.

Ianto personally didn't want to know what 'in a way' meant. He bit his lip slightly. "I guess I understand why you are such an asshole now," Ianto deadpanned.

Jason looked up and raised his eyebrow in question.

Ianto smiled, "you had to go 35 years without coffee."

Jason laughed.

Ianto smiled and then yawned. Jason but his now empty water bottle in the recycling bin. "Tired," he said turning his head toward Ianto. Ianto nodded.

"My bed is always open to you," Jason said only half teasing.

"No, thanks," Ianto said.

Jason walked closer to Ianto until he was standing right in front of him. He softly took the other man's hand. Ianto tried to pull it back instinctively but Jason just tightened his grip. "I have answered your questions now I need you to answer one of mine," Jason said his voice barely a whisper.

Reluctantly Ianto nodded. "What is the real reason you left me," Jason began, "I know it wasn't because of the training, you admitted yourself that you didn't know that my training wasn't required until you got to London, so what made you leave if the first place."

Ianto thought he could see a bit of hurt in Jason's eyes. The man was right, Ianto hadn't left because of the training, or even because Jason was an overbearing control freak. No Ianto had left because Jason wasn't faithful. Looking back Ianto realized that was the lesser of all of Jason's offences, but then Ianto's world had practically revolved around Jason. So when he saw him with a black haired woman in his bed Ianto's heart had shattered. It had taken him three days to decide to leave and another four weeks to actually go through with it.

Ianto came back into the present. He stared into the green questioning eyes before him. "I left because you were not faithful," Ianto whispered.

Jason dropped Ianto's hand, took a step back and placed his hands on his hips, "you're kidding," he said sounding amused.

For some reason that pissed Ianto off, "no I am not kidding, god Jason I gave you everything. My whole life revolved around you, and I thought you only wanted me. That wasn't true and when I realized that my world shattered."

"But I do only want you Ianto, I love you don't you know that," Jason pouted as he took a step closer to the younger man.

Ianto shook his head, "Even if that was true, it wouldn't make a difference. I am not that delusional boy anymore, I have moved on. I now know the difference between a relationship and an ownership." Ianto tried to move around Jason but Jason quickly grabbed him and slammed him against the wall pinning him for the second time that night.

"Have you moved on Ianto," Jason questioned, "Maybe from me, but not from her."

Ianto's eyes opened wide with fear. Surely Jason didn't know about Lisa.

Jason grinned maliciously, "did you think I didn't know about Lisa, hidden somewhere inside Torchwood, you should have known better baby." Ianto started to go in to panic mode trying desperately to free himself from Jason's grip. Jason just continued talking as if Ianto was being perfectly still. "You are one to talk about being faithful. What I can't decide is who you are being unfaithful to, Lisa or Jack." Jason put emphasis on the last three words.

Ianto spit into Jason's face. He then found himself thrown forcefully to the kitchen floor. He tried to crawl to the nearest door but Jason stopped him pushing him flat on his back and straddling him to keep him there. That's when Ianto noticed the tears in Jason's eyes. He stopped struggling out of shock.

"How do you think he is going to react when he finds her," Jason yelled. Ianto remained quiet and still.

Jason shook his head and stared down at Ianto, "You are still delusional Ianto, only he is the one fooling you now, he is worse than me and one day you will see it."

Ianto found his voice at that, "He is nothing like you," he yelled in defense of Jack.

Jason bent down so his mouth was right by Ianto's ear, "he is never going to love you, Ianto," he whispered. He then got off Ianto and calmly headed out of the kitchen.

Ianto sat up and but his face to his knees, trying to stop shaking. After a few minutes he heard a slight cough behind him. He turned to see Aria standing there with a baby carrier in hand. "Would you like me to take you home," she asked softly. He nodded.


	11. Chapter 11

AN: Chapter 11 yay! I hope you all love it. Oh one note I messed up where Jason was from in the last chapter. Opps, sorry. I have gone back and corrected it. Don't be afraid to tell me if I screw up something like that. I am human, sometimes I miss read Wikipedia. I will probably be able to get chapter 12 up sometime tomorrow. We are so close to Everything Changes. Anyway, remember to leave me a comment, I really love them.

Disclaimers: I don't own Torchwood.

Spoilers: Everything Changes

Warnings: Curse words and mentions of murder and sex.

Ianto walked through the cog door at 2 am. He had come to the hub because he knew it was the one place Jason couldn't get to him. He flirted with the thought of never leaving the hub again just so he could stay clear of Jason for good, but he had to go to the dry cleaners with Jack's coat at least once a month. He would face Jason if it meant that coat would stay clean. He loved that coat.

He quietly walked up the few steps to reach the battered couch. He sat down heavily on it and looked longingly towards Jack's office. He could see a light coming from the bunker Jack slept in. He wondered what Jack was doing in there. Probably reading, that or he had a night light. Ianto chuckled to himself at the thought he then toed off his shoes and laid down on the couch. It wasn't long before he let sleep overtake him.

Ianto was woken after only four hours of sleep by the alarm on his wrist watch, he groaned and then opened his eyes. Sitting on the floor in front of the couch was Jack. Ianto grinned.

"It's very rude to watch your employees sleep sir," Ianto said in a teasing tone.

Jack smiled, "but what if said employee looks adorable in their sleep."

Ianto narrowed his eyes, "that just makes it a worse offence sir, bordering on harassment."

Jack chuckled and then placed his hand softly over Ianto's groin and started to gently palm his morning erection. "If I take care of this will my offence be forgiven," he said his voice filled his lust.

Ianto bit back a moan then answered, "It would be a very good start sir."

TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW

Once Jack had fully repented and Ianto had showered and put on the spare suit he kept at the hub, Ianto headed up to the tourist center to but out some new brochures that had arrived the day before. It was 7:15 so the others wouldn't be in for at least another hour.

Ianto decided to turn his personal cell back on. He placed it on the counter and went in to the small storage area to retrieve the brochures; it started beeping with missed messages as soon as it was properly on. Ianto walked back over to it placing the box of brochures next to it on the counter. 32 missed texts from Jason, and his voice mail was full. Ianto sighed and then without reading them deleted them. He then put out the brochures and made his way back to the main hub. He really needed more coffee.

He was making said coffee when Susie came running through the cog door obviously excited about something.

"There was a murder last night," she chirped making her way straight to Jack's office. Ianto rolled his eyes, leave it to Susie to be excited about the demise of another human life.

Ianto took his and Jack's coffee and made his way to his boss's office. He sat Jack's coffee on his desk as Susie took his coffee from him. Apparently she thought it was hers. Bitch, Ianto thought but he let it go.

"Yes, Torchwood, that's what I said," Jack said in an irritated voice into his phone, "Just tell them to leave the site and to not move the body," he then ended the call without as much as a goodbye.

"Come on Susie," Jack said, "let's go we will meet Tosh and Owen there."

She nodded ridiculously excited. Ianto resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her he had another job to do.

"What's the name of the deceased," he said casually. Anytime Torchwood dealt with a dead human Ianto had to check with Lavender to see if the person was a rift child because if they were Ianto had to deal with them in a different way than he did normal humans.

"Sarah Palester," Susie said as she followed Jack out of the office.

Ianto waited until the cog door had shut behind Jack and Susie before he pulled out his phone and dialed Lavender's home number.

"Tara," a woman's voice answered. This was normal. At any given time there was always at least four other rift children in Lavender's house. Two body guards and two assistants. Tara was an assistant.

"Hello Tara, Ianto Jones security code 007, I need the name Sarah Palester checked for me please," Ianto said.

"Yes, Mr. Jones…" Tara began but she didn't get to finish because someone apparently snatched the phone away from her.

"Ianto," came Lavender's voice, "Jason said you aren't answering his phone calls."

"Well he is correct. He stepped over a line last night," Ianto said calmly.

"Pish-tosh, I don't care if he hurt your feelings. He is second in command and you are required to answer his phone calls. If you find out it is a personal then you may promptly hang up, but there is always a chance that it isn't. So from now on answer his calls or I will pull you out of Torchwood and send you to Massachusetts faster than you can say God Bless America. Do you understand?" Lavender basically yelled through the phone.

"Yes, Ma'am," Ianto said softly.

"Okay, umm Tara says there is no Sarah Palester on our register," Lavender said her voice returning to that of a sweet little girl.

"Thank you," Ianto said, "goodbye miss Lavender."

"Goodbye Ianto, stay safe," Lavender said then she ended the call.

Ianto groaned as he slammed his phone shut. Leave it to Jason to go tattling to Lavender like he was a four year old. Ianto knew that if it wasn't for Lisa he would have freely chosen to go to America just to be done with Jason.

He decided a bit of cleaning would get his mind off things so he decided to tidy up his team mates work stations. He started at Owen's simply because it was always the worst. He wasn't disappointed the remains of yesterday's lunch and dinner were littered around Owen's computer monitors. Ianto sighed; apparently his 'no eating by the computer' rule had gone in one of Owen's ears and straight out the other. Tosh's station was boring compared to Owen's, all Ianto had to do was lightly dust.

Susie's station proved to be a challenge. She had thrown her hand bag on to her desk when she came in earlier and all the contents were now all over the desk. Ianto knew the rules when it came to a woman's hand bag. Don't touch them and especially don't clean them out. He had learned that the hard way with Lisa.

He bit his lip and crept slightly closer to Susie's station. Then he noticed the knife that they had acquired with the glove. It looked as if it had fallen from Susie's bag. Ianto took a step away from the desk. Why did Susie have that knife, he wondered.

His thoughts were broken by the ringing of his phone. He answered it.

"Ianto Jones," he said into the receiver.

"I see you are answering my calls now," Jason's voice said.

"Is this a personal call or are my services needed," Ianto said diplomatically.

"Your services are always needed," Jason said seductively.

Ianto hung up. Lavender had said he only had to answer the calls and he did. He sighed and remembered that he needed coffee.

Once his coffee was made curiosity lead him to Tosh's computer station to find out more details of last night's murder. The victim Sarah Palester was 72 years old and had been stabbed in her front room. Who would want to stab a defenseless old lady, Ianto mused. He then remembered the knife in Susie's purse. Could Susie have wanted a murder victim to use the glove on that she had created one herself?

Ianto was brought out of his thought when the cog door opened to reveal the other four members of Torchwood 3.

"Get me some coffee would ya, Tea-boy," Owen said in a pouting voice.

Ianto nodded. As he made his way to the brand new coffee machine he discreetly watched Susie. She walked over to her station and hastily pushed all the contents on her desk back in to her bag. She looked around nervously to see if anyone had seen. In Ianto's eyes that made her seem extremely guilty. Ianto decided that he would discuss the situation with Jack.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, only a few Weevil sighting to keep them busy. Ianto waited until the others had finally left for the day to have his talk with Jack. He walked into the man's office and sat a coffee in front of him. Ianto then sat in the chair opposite to Jack's desk.

Jack looked up from the paperwork he had been pretending to do. "How am I supposed to get this paperwork you are always on me about done if you distract me with your orgasmic coffee and your dashing good looks," Jack teased.

Ianto smiled softly, "Of course that pornographic magazine you have hidden under your paper work is not distracting at all," he said.

Jack frowned slightly, "I only read it for the articles," he lied leaning back in his chair and stretching his arms over his head.

Ianto smiled for a second, but his expression switched to something more serious when he remembered what he had come to discuss with Jack.

Jack frowned for real when he saw Ianto's serious face. He leaned over his desk resting his weight on his elbows. "What's wrong," he questioned.

"I think Susie may be involved with last night's murder," Ianto blurted out. He cringed, that is not how he had planned on starting the conversation.

Jack's frown deepened. "That a pretty big accusation, do you have any proof," Jack said he sounded angry.

"Well," Ianto began feeling a bit intimidated, "I saw the knife that came with the glove in her hand bag, and she has been rather opposed with the glove lately, she wanted a murder to happen." Ianto stopped his babbling when Jack stood up.

"Are you telling me you searched Susie's bag," Jack asked crossing his arms over his chest once again.

"No," Ianto said shaking his head, "it fell over on her desk the knife fell out of it."

Jack narrowed his eyes. Ianto realized that even though that was the truth it sounded like a weak alibi young children tell their parents when they discover their Christmas gifts before Christmas.

"Susie has been with me longer than anyone, I would trust her with the world. She is not a murderer," Jack said obviously letting the whole purse issue go.

"You should at least question her about why she took the knife," Ianto said standing up now.

That seemed to really piss Jack off. "I am the boss here Ianto, Susie obviously had a reason to take the knife and being as she is second in command I am going to let it slide," He said his voice slightly raised.

Ianto bit his lip. Jack hadn't been mad at him like this since the night they caught the pterodactyl.

Jack ignored Ianto's obvious nervous state as he continued, "don't you think I would notice if one of my team was capable of murder."

"Apparently not," Ianto retorted.

Jack walked around his desk so he could stand directly in front of Ianto. He leaned in close so his face was only about an inch away from the Welshman's. Ianto knew that if Jack touched him he would be able to feel his anger but he was stuck between Jack and the chair he had recently vacated.

"Susie did not kill that woman, and I don't want to hear any more about this do you understand," Jack said his voice barely a whisper but still deadly.

All Ianto could do was nod and attempt to not let Jack touch him. Jack backed up and pointed to his office door.

"I will see you tomorrow," he said his voice a little nicer now. Ianto nodded and walked out of Jack's office not stopping until he reached his car. Ianto decided he was tired of fighting with dangerous men.


	12. Chapter 12

AN: Chapter 12, this has the beginning of Everything Changes in it. Also it has smut. It will probably be Friday before the next update.

Disclaimers: I don't own Torchwood.

Spoilers: Everything Changes, Cyberwoman

Warnings: curse words, mentions of murder, serious m/m sex

When Ianto got to his flat he was unsurprised to find gifts from Jason in his kitchen. A large bag of gourmet coffee and about 30 dark chocolate bars. Ianto groaned but ate one of the chocolate bars any way. He then notice a small post-it note stuck to his fridge it read: Let's just pretend it didn't happen, Love Jason.

"Okay," Ianto said out loud to know one. This was normal behavior for Jason. When Ianto lived with him anytime they would get in a fight Jason would buy him a gift and say 'let's pretend that didn't happen.' Ianto used it to his advantage a couple of times. Picking a fight just so he could get the latest gadget he wanted.

Ianto bit his lip and then pulled out his cell phone. He typed, Okay, and then sent the text to Jason. It was moments later when he got the reply. 'Thanks, love you,' Ianto rolled his eyes and then went to bed. He had a long awkward day of avoiding Jack tomorrow he should probably get his beauty sleep.

His alarm went off at 6 the next morning but Ianto turned it off quickly. He had already decided he wasn't going to get to work at his normal 7:30, but wait until Tosh would be in and get there at 8:45. He tried to enjoy his extra hour of sleep, but his mind kept thinking about the morning before and what Jack and he had been doing at this time. Finally he gave up trying to sleep and started to get ready.

It was 8:30 when he walked through the cog door, no one was there. He sighed and went to Tosh's computer to see if there were clues as to where they all were there. He groaned when he saw what was pulled up on the screen. Another murder had been called in, Rani Ghosh, 45 found stabbed in Robin Tree Alley. It seemed Susie got her wish for a serial killer.

When the team arrived back Owen was in a terrible mood. Apparently when they brought Miss Ghosh back she had punched him in the face. Owen walked up to the coffee machine and stood next to Ianto his hand rubbing his sore chin. "She had a better swing then you," Owen teased.

Ianto looked at him and raised his eyebrows, "One word, decaf," He threatened the doctor.

Owen held his hand up in surrender. "Okay, okay, let's not do anything we will regret," he said as he made his way back down the stairs and towards the med bay.

Ianto rolled his eyes but smiled. He pulled out 5 coffee mugs and began to make everyone a coffee. He usually delivered Jack's last so he could flirt with the older man for a few minutes before returning to work, but today had delivered Jack's first. He went in set it on the man's desk and then left as fast as he could not making eye contact. He wondered if Jack would notice that it was decaf.

Ianto spent most of the day in the archives where he was both relived and disappointed that Jack didn't come to find him. He was able to get a lot of work done so that was good. He timed his departure from the hub with Tosh, leaving just before she normally did.

When he got to his flat he stripped down to his boxers grabbed a chocolate bar and a beer and sat down on the sofa to watch a James Bond movie. After the second movie, the fourth chocolate bar, and the sixth beer Ianto fell asleep on the sofa.

The next morning Ianto was a little hung over and depressed, he really missed Jack. He got to the hub at 8:30 and like the day before no one seemed to be in. He decided he didn't want to know if there was another murder until he had more coffee so he went up to the coffee machine.

"I gave the others the morning off," said a voice behind him.

Ianto turned and saw Jack leaning against the door to the board room. "Okay," he said simply and turned back to making his coffee. It wasn't long until he felt Jack's arms snake around his waist and the man's head lean softly against his.

"I'm sorry," Jack whispered, "I may have over reacted a bit. Please stop being mad at me and please don't give me any more decaf."

Ianto felt his own relief rush through his body. He nodded softly. Then he felt Jack's relief rush through him. He set the coffee mug he was holding down and turned around in Jack's embrace. He rested his forehead against Jack's. "I am sorry too, sir," he said softly.

Jack nodded and then softly kissed Ianto's lips. He almost pulled away but Ianto grabbed the back of his head and deepened the kiss. The older man moaned slightly and pulled the Welshman closer. They stayed like that for a while until Jack loosened his grip on Ianto a bit so he could slip his hand between them and undo Ianto's trousers.

Jack pulled away from the kiss, "I am pretty sure I am addicted to you, I have been having withdrawn symptoms."

Ianto chuckled as he pulled Jack's braces down, "I am sure it was the lack of caffeine."

Jack chuckled as well as he pushed Ianto's trousers and boxers down, "Looks like you have an addiction to me too," he said taking Ianto's obvious erection in his hand.

Ianto moaned and momentarily forgot how to undo a button. "Never said I didn't," he breathed as he finally got to push Jack's trousers down. Ianto wondered if Jack even owned underwear.

Ianto took an awkward step back, toed off his shoes, and quickly undressed his upper half. Jack followed suit. The older man then grabbed Ianto's hand and led him to the board room stopping briefly to retrieve the lube from his trouser pocket, giving Ianto a very nice view of his arse as he did.

"I need you, Ianto," Jack whispered into Ianto's ear and then proceeded to bend him over the board table. Ianto felt Jack's hand softly caress his back and then move down his legs.

"Tease," Ianto said as he turned his head to try and see Jack. Jack softly placed his hands on either side of Ianto's head and turned it back to a forward position.

He leaned down so his head was right by Ianto's ear, "the teasing is the best part," he whispered before he softly took Ianto's earlobe in his mouth and nibbled it slightly. Jack then stood up straight and Ianto almost sighed with relief when he heard the sound of the lid being opened on the bottle of lube.

Ianto gasped when he felt the cold lubricant touch his skin but was soon moaning as Jack expertly prepared him. Ianto whimpered a bit when Jack removed his fingers but his moans soon started back up as Jack started to slowly enter him. Jack then pulled Ianto up straight so that his back was pressed against Jack's chest. The older man started to softly nibble on Ianto's ear again as he began to thrust.

Ianto knew he wasn't going to last long when Jack took his erection in his hand and started to stroke it in the same rhythm he was thrusting with. Ianto gasped when he felt a feeling rush through him that wasn't his and wasn't arousal. It was something deeper. Something Ianto remembered feeling for Jason, and Lisa. Something Ianto now had to admit he felt for Jack, and Jack felt it for him to. That realization pushed him over the edge and Jack soon followed.

TW-TW-TW-TW

Jack and Ianto spent the rest of the day together.

They ate breakfast, then shagged in the shower.

They discussed the latest films, though Ianto was sure this was because Jack loved to hear him say the word film in his welsh accent.

Jack then convinced Ianto to play naked hide and seek. In which Ianto realized that Jack always cheats.

They ate pizza for lunch then shagged again in Jack's office.

Over all it was a great day for Ianto, but all good things must come to an end, just as the sun began to descend Jack received a call from Susie. Another murder, this time a 19 year old boy stabbed in the city center.

Jack sent Ianto home telling him he had done enough work for the day while winking.

TW-TW-TW-TW-TW

Ianto arrived at the hub at 7:30 the next day. Jack bounded out of his office like an excited puppy when Ianto walked through the cog door.

"Glad to see me, sir," Ianto teased raising his eyebrows slightly.

"Yes, come here and I will let you feel how glad I am," Jack said with a wink.

"Well that wasn't cheesy at all," Ianto said sarcastically as he walked up the stairs that led to the coffee machine.

"Where are you going?" Jack pouted.

"To make coffee, if I am going to have to put up with your version of pick-up lines all day I am going to need it," Ianto yelled down to the other man.

"I thought I was all you needed," Jack teased as he began to follow Ianto up to the coffee machine.

Ianto turned and looked at Jack, "are you quite done?" he teased.

"I have only just begun Jones, Ianto, Jones," Jack said as he reached Ianto and stole a quick kiss.

Ianto rolled his eyes but smiled anyway, "So how did last night's interview with the dead go?" he questioned Jack.

"Oh, it was fun, well the interview wasn't really, the guy didn't see anything, no the fun part was the look on this PC's face when she saw us bring John Tucker back to life," Jack said slightly laughing.

Ianto was not amused. "You do realize that Torchwood is a secret organization don't you, sir?" he said to Jack with his eyebrows raise.

"You do realize that Torchwood is a secret organization," Jack repeated back to Ianto in a mocking voice. "You are such a spoils sport sometimes. It's not like anyone will believe her if she talks anyway," Jack continued saying in his normal voice as he pinched Ianto's arse.

Ianto smacked Jack's hand away, "Be careful or I will show you spoil sport," he warned Jack.

Jack leaned in close to Ianto, "mmm that sounds kinky," he said in a seductive tone.

Ianto rolled his eyes, "what I just said wasn't a sexual innuendo, sir," he said to Jack.

Jack laughed and leaned against the counter the coffee machine sat on. "Anything you say, with those Welsh vowels of yours, sounds like pure sex to me," he said winking.

Ianto sighed and then handed Jack his now ready cup of coffee. "Do us both a favor and drink this instead of talking or neither of us will be able to get any actual work done today," he said in a teasing tone.

Jack took his first sip of coffee and moan provocatively. Ianto chuckled, "I will leave you two alone then."

Jack looked up from his coffee, "I told you I am always up for a threesome," he teased.

Ianto just smiled and shook his head as he took his own coffee and headed to the archives to do some actual work.

It was nearly 9 when the team left the hub due to a weevil sighting at a local hospital. It was supposedly on the third floor, which was odd to Ianto, but who was he to judge how a weevil's mind worked. Ianto decided to use his alone time to go change over Lisa's IV bags.

Guilt rushed over him when he reached her room. She looked so peaceful in her sleep even with all the metal covering her body. She had no idea that her perfect boyfriend had spent all day yesterday in the arms of another.

She woke up as he started to undo her old bags. "Hey, stranger," she said softly.

He smiled at her, "Hey sweetheart, how is the pain," he asked trying not to think about how true her greeting was.

"It's bearable," she said but her slight wince gave her away.

"I will increase the dose," he said softly brushing away a tear from her face.

"Thanks," She said reaching up to grab his hand.

He stood there with her in a comfortable silence until she drifted back to sleep. He connected her new IV bags adding more pain medication to them and then silently left the room. He stood just outside her room and silently sobbed. He felt like a monster. Who cheated on someone as they fought for their life?

"Ianto," came Jack's voice threw his comms unit. It effectively brought Ianto out of his pity party.

"Here, sir," Ianto said after he activated his comm.

"We are bringing home a live one, oh and a dead one, and also a very curious PC, the one from last night." Jack said Ianto rolled his eyes as Jack continued babbling. "Well we aren't really bringing her home she is just following."

"Okay sir I will meet you by the water tower, I know how much you love to use your disappearing trick," Ianto said as he made he was back to the main hub and out the cog door.

After Ianto dealt with the weevil and the dead porter he joined the rest of the team around Tosh's computer, they were all watching the woman who had followed them home as she walked around the water tower. They then watched as she went to her car. They watched as she sat there for a while and just when Ianto was starting to get bored with it another PC came up to the car and got in the passenger's seat. After a moment both of the PC's got out of the car and walked around the water tower yet again. Then they got into their vehicle and drove away.

"Well that was entertaining," Ianto deadpanned.

Jack chuckled, "she will be back," he said with certainty, "she has seen me, no way will she give up that easy."

The whole team groaned and then went back to work.


	13. Chapter 13

AN: Okay chapter 13. I know I said Friday but I was super excited about this chapter. So here it is. So maybe I will be able to get chapter 14 done on Friday, but it will most likely be Sunday. Okay so here it is hope you like it. Let me know.

Disclaimers: I don't own Torchwood

Spoilers: Everything Changes

Warnings: Death and Murder. mentions of sex.

Jack was right, as soon as the sun went down the Woman cop was back. The team watched her as they ate pizza in the boardroom. She stood in front of the water tower as if studying it. After a while she walked away. Tosh switched the video feed so they could follow her progress. She went in to Jubilee pizza. Ianto chanced a look at Owen; he looked just a bit nervous. Ianto had caught him a few days ago ordering pizza under the name Torchwood.

Thirty minutes later Tosh called everyone over to her computer station.

"She's left the Jubilees; she is walking towards the tourist center. Oh and she has pizza," She said.

Ianto cursed Owen in his mind. This was fun for the rest of them but he was the one that would have to clean up the mess this was sure to cause.

Jack looked at Ianto, "how do you order pizza?" he asked.

"Under the name Timothy Smith and I always go get it, though I don't see the point in doing that anymore," Ianto said, resisting the urge to glare at Owen.

Jack sighed, "Go greet our guest, send her down here."

Ianto inwardly groaned but did as he was told; taking his mug of coffee he went up to the tourist center, unlocked the door and hid in the small storage area so he could make an entrance. After a moment the door chimed open and in strode the dark haired woman. Looking at her up close Ianto thought she looked very familiar, but he couldn't quite place her.

He casually came out of his hiding spot and gave her a small questioning smile. He noticed she looked a bit nervous standing there holding two pizza boxes.

"Oh hi ya, sorry I'm late, someone ordered pizza," she said stumbling over her words a bit.

"Who's it for," he said casually as if this happened every day. He was frustrated that he couldn't place where he had seen her before.

"I think it's a Mr. Harkness," she answered.

Ianto resisted the urge to tease that she should know who she was delivering pizza to. He pushed the small white button under the counter that locked the entrance to the tourist center, and then pressed the big blue button that opened the wall revealing the dark hallway that lead to the hub.

"Don't keep him waitin," Ianto said in a teasing tone when she just stared at the opening the wall had left. She walk into it a few steps then looked back at him, He gestured to the right using his head and eyes. Finally she walked down the hall.

He stood there looking at the place where she had stood trying to figure out where he had seen her before. After a minute he gave up. He made sure the door to the center was secure and then made his way back down into the hub.

When he got there it was just Tosh, Owen, and Susie.

"Thanks for not rating me out Tea-boy," Owen said referring to the fact that Ianto had not pointed his finger directly at Owen when Jack had questioned him about the pizza delivering techniques he used.

"No problem, I assumed you would come clean of your own accord. So where are our fearless leader and our house guest?" Ianto said.

Suzie looked up at him and smiled slightly, "He is showing her the weevil."

"Among other things probably," Owen said winking at Ianto.

That's when Ianto remembered where he had seen the woman. She was the girl Jason had cheated on him with. He didn't recognize her with all her clothes on. Now she was off somewhere in the halls of the hub with his Jack. Ianto's nerves settled when Jack returned a moment latter, looking perfectly normal and fully clothed to Ianto's relief. The whore, as Ianto decided she would forever be named, followed behind him.

"Owen Harper, Gwen Cooper," Jack said gesturing towards Owen.

"Doctor Owen Harper, thank you," Owen corrected nodding at Gwen.

Ianto rolled his eyes at the doctor and Jack continued with the introductions as if Owen hadn't spoken.

"Toshiko Sato, computer genius," Jack said indicating Tosh. Tosh smiled sweetly.

"Suzie Costello, she's second in command," he said pointing towards Suzie. She looked up and gave a small wave.

"And this is Ianto Jones, Ianto cleans up after us and gets us everywhere on time," Jack said. Ianto tried to hide his elation at being the center of Jack's attention.

"I try my best," Ianto said.

"And he looks good in a suit," Jack added.

"Careful, that's harassment sir," Ianto warned Jack in a teasing tone.

Gwen seemed to be overwhelmed with all the details Jack had just given her. "Why are you telling me their names? I am not supposed to know am I? This is classified isn't it?" She babbled out.

"Way beyond classified," Jack said.

Gwen cut Jack off, "Then you shouldn't be telling me, what are you going to do to me?"

"What do you imagine," Jack said in a flirty tone. Ianto felt green fire shoot through his veins.

Gwen didn't seem to notice that the captain was flirting, and went straight into a babbling rant, "Well I've seen too much, your names and everything, the weevil, and you can dump a man in the water and lie about his death," when she ended her rant her eyes brushed over everyone.

Ianto felt like she was judging him and he didn't like it so he quickly slipped into Jack's office to avoid her gaze.

Jack seemed to have not even noticed Gwen's rant and went straight into ordering captain mode. "Okay, Tosh finish that calibration in the morning," he said to the genius who had a tendency to stay up all night working on things if she wasn't told to stop. She nodded at him.

Jack turned his attention to the doctor, "Owen, first thing tomorrow get ahold of Chandler and Bell, cause I think their lying, Ianto!"

Ianto stuck his head out of the office so he could listen to Jack's instructions for him, Jack faced him, "If he needs back up you better be on standby," Jack said to him, Ianto nodded.

Jack finished his captain rant by turning to his second in command, "Susie, I know it's a pain in the ass but I need the costing on the glove research."

Jack then turned to Gwen and pointed at her, "And as for you, you're coming with me, this way," he demanded of her.

Ianto decided that he had had enough of the show so he retreated back into Jack's office to get a head start on hacking Gwen Cooper's home computer. As he sat down in front of the small computer in the corner of Jack's office he faintly heard Owen and Tosh yell goodbye as they retreated out of the cog door.

As he waited for the computer to start up he heard a slight cough behind him. He turned to see Suzie leaning against the door frame. She stared at him intently for a moment then spoke.

"I wanted to let you know that I know you saw what was in my bag," she said. Ianto raised his eyebrows at her but remained quiet.

"I also know that you are an intelligent person and that by now you have pieced together the reason I had the knife," She continued walking into the office and leaning casually against Jack's desk.

Ianto watched her every move in case she decided to make him her fourth victim. Finally he found his voice, "Suzie, I think maybe the glove has taken over a part of you. How about we tell Jack together and we can all figure a way out of this," he said keeping his voice calm.

Suzie looked at him with an unsettling grin. "No Ianto, we won't be informing Jack. Do you want to know why?" She said her voice so calm it was scary.

Ianto nodded.

"I am also an intelligent person. I saw the devastation at Canary Wharf. So when you began trying to get a job here, it got me thinking. Why would someone who experienced first-hand the shit Torchwood can cause be so desperate to work for them?" She said her voice still calm.

Ianto didn't like where this conversation was heading at all. "I couldn't go back to a normal job when I knew what was out there," Ianto lied.

Suzie shook her head and narrowed her eyes. "No use lying to me Jones, I found her," She said.

Ianto's eyes widened in surprise.

She giggled, "Don't worry; I will keep your secret as long as you keep mine."

Ianto didn't know what to say so he just nodded.

She smiled softly and began to leave the office, "Pleasure doing business with you Mr. Jones," she chirped and then she was gone.

Ianto wondered how long Suzie had known and if the bitch had just been holding on to the information waiting for a chance to blackmail him.

TW-TW-TW-TW-TW

It was almost two hours later when Ianto finally finished deleting the files from Gwen Cooper's computer. He shut off the computer and got up with intent to leave. His path was blocked however by the very dashing Jack Harkness who stood perched against the doorway looking very chipper.

"That was fun," the older man said with a smile.

Ianto didn't return the smile, "right, I am going home now," he said not really feeling up to being around Jack at the moment because he was so worried about the whole Suzie situation. He tried to scoot past Jack casually.

Jack didn't let him, he instead grabbed the Welshman around the waist and pulled him in close, "What's wrong," he said into Ianto's ear he then slightly nibbled it.

Ianto didn't have an answer to that question that he could share with Jack so he remained quiet and tried to pull away. Jack didn't let him; he did however reach up and cup the younger man's chin and gently raised it so Ianto was looking him in the eye. "What's wrong," Jack repeated.

Ianto quickly formed a lie in his head. "I do a lot more around her than just clean up after you," he said. In reality he could care less how Jack had introduced him to Gwen, but he had to lie because he couldn't tell Jack the real reason he was upset.

"I know, I am sorry, forgive me please," Jack said poking out his bottom lip in a pout.

Ianto couldn't help but smile. "Fine you are forgiven," Ianto said.

"That easy, I was hoping to make it up to you maybe let you win a game of naked hide and seek," Jack said seductively.

"I don't really want to play right now," Ianto said truthfully.

Jack relinquished his hold on Ianto and went to just softly holding his hand. "Okay, at least stay the night, I promise to let you sleep," Jack pleaded.

Ianto nodded, "Okay, but I do need to sleep," he said as a warning to Jack.

Jack let Ianto sleep until 5:30 am and then he couldn't help but 'accidentally' wake Ianto up, and then proceed to have his way with him, Ianto didn't really mind it was a perfect way to wake up.

TW-TW-TW-TW-

At the morning meeting Jack casually told the team about his final meeting with Gwen Cooper.

"She is really something else. You can feel the compassion coming off her. So adorable," Jack was saying with a small shake of his head.

Ianto didn't even try to hide his eye roll. He knew it was likely that Gwen had not known about his and Jason's relationship when she slept with the man, but he couldn't help but think of her as a home wrecker, and people like that surely didn't have compassion. It also didn't escape Ianto how hypocritical he was being, but he would continue to hate her anyway.

"We could use someone like that," Jack continued unaware of Ianto's eye roll.

"Oi," Owen chimed in, "I have tons of compassion thank you very much."

Jack just laughed at him. Ianto knew Owen was right though, even if he was just teasing. The doctor was full of compassion even if he tried to hide it. Soon after that the meeting ended.

The rest of the morning and much of the afternoon went by rather easily, no rift alerts, and no weevil sightings. Ianto took the opportunity to make everyone work on their paper work. It was like pulling teeth. Not long after lunch Ianto was in his office in the archives looking over some of Jacks paper work and marking the places the man needed to redo when Suzie walked in.

"I need you to keep Jack busy tonight," she said as she started to pace in front of his desk.

"Why," he asked looking back down at the paper work.

"Well, I kind of have to make a run for it," she said.

Ianto looked up from his desk and raised a questioning eyebrow, when she didn't offer any further explanation he rolled his eyes and looked back down at his desk.

"I don't think distracting Jack was part of our deal," Ianto said.

Suzie stopped and then and leaned across his desk, " if I go down I am bringing you with me, now I know you are shagging Jack, so tonight after everyone goes home you take him in to his bunker and keep him there until morning, do you understand?"

Ianto nodded reluctantly.  
TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-

After Suzie's visit the rift started to go mad. The team was running all over town picking up various artifacts, dealing with travelers who hadn't wanted to travel, and pushing weevils back into the sewers. By the time Tosh and Owen left the hub it was nearly 2 am.

Jack was in his office and Ianto was making some coffee, he could see Suzie at her station frantically typing on her computer. He watched her for a while until she hastily got up and ran to the invisible lift. He knew she was going to make a run for it but he was sure she would wait until he had 'distracted' Jack as he was supposed to do. He walked down to her computer and saw what she had seen that made her run for it early. Gwen Cooper was currently out by the water tower and Suzie had now joined her. He watched until he saw Suzie pull out a gun. He had to tell Jack no matter the consequences because he knew Gwen was in trouble.

"Jack!" he yelled his tone troubled and serious.

Jack ran out of his office and over to Ianto he looked at the monitor Ianto was looking at. He didn't even speak, he just ran to the invisible lift.

Ianto watched as Jack appeared on the monitor, and then he felt his world fall apart when Suzie shot the man Ianto had just recently realized he loved, in the head.

Ianto ran to the cog door and raced up the emergency stairs not willing to wait for the elevator. All he could think about was shooting Suzie the way she had shot Jack. He was unaware of the tears that were falling down his face and he didn't even notice the cold air as he rushed out of the tourist center and ran towards the water tower. He stopped suddenly when he saw Jack standing there perfectly fine and showing no signs of being shot. He didn't notice anything else as he watched Jack walk towards him.

"I promise to explain later," Jack said softly.

Ianto let out a single sob, he was so happy to hear Jack's voice and to see his eyes sparkling with life.

"I need you to take Gwen inside, I will deal with Suzie's body, please Ianto," Jack continued trying to get Ianto to snap out of his shocked stat. It was then that he saw Suzie's body lying near the water tower and a sobbing Gwen Cooper on her knees near the body.

Ianto finally nodded and walked over to the Welshwoman. He knelt down beside her. "Come on love let's get inside," he whispered to her, surprised at how even his voice was. She looked up at him, his hatred for he wavered a bit at seeing her in such a distressed state.

"I remember," she whispered.

"That's nice, let's go inside and get some scotch how does that sound," Ianto said his voice soft. She nodded. Ianto stood up and helped Gwen to her feet. He looked around and noticed that Jack and Suzie's body were gone.

Ianto led Gwen directly to Jacks office when they entered in to the hub; he caught a glimpse of Jack in the medical bay as he passed by it. He sat Gwen in a chair and poured her some of Jack's scotch. She took it gratefully and then downed it in one go. He poured her another one.

"I suggest you sip this one slowly," he said as he handed her the glass, "you stay right here and I will be back in a minute, Okay."

She nodded. "Thank you," she said.

Ianto quickly grabbed Jack a new shirt and headed out of the office to the medical bay. Jack was just standing there staring at Suzie's body when Ianto descended the few steps and stopped next to the older man. He placed Jack's new shirt down on one of the small tables. The one Jack was currently wearing was covered in Suzie's blood.

Ianto turned Jack towards him and started to gently undo his shirt. Jack seemed to come out of his trance then.

"I can't die," he blurted out. Ianto paused his movements for a moment then continued unbuttoning Jack's soiled shirt.

Jack continued speaking, "something happened to me a long time ago, and now for some reason, I can't die."

Ianto really didn't know what to say. He wondered if Lavender and Jason knew this. Finally Ianto decided to break the tension with a joke.

"If you ever meet my family, could you maybe not tell them, wouldn't want my brother-in-law to have a heart attack," he said in a teasing tone, "It will be bad enough when they find out I am gay."

Jack laughed out loud. The man finished shrugging his old shirt off and then put on the new one. He looked over at Suzie's body. "Looks like we have a long morning ahead of us," he said with a sigh, "Okay, call Owen and Tosh. Tell them what happened and warn them to bring any tech that they may have back here, because after today if I catch any alien tech off base there will be consequences. Same goes for you."

Ianto nodded, "Yes, sir."


	14. Chapter 14

AN: Chapter 14, there is smut in this chapter. Anyway, this is a transition chapter between Everything Changes and Day One. I worked really hard to get it ready for today. It will probably be Wednesday before I post the next chapter, which will encompass part if not all of Day One. Let me know what you think. Oh and one more thing, what is the opinion about the Torchwood novels, should I include them or not? Discuss amongst yourselves and I will see you on Wednesday.

Disclaimers: I don't own Torchwood.

Spoilers: Everything Changes, Day One, Cyberwoman.

Warning: m/m sex, curse words, tiny bit Gwen bashing (you have to squint to see it)

lj-cut

The sun was shining over the bay by the time Owen and Tosh staggered out the cog door on their way home. Jack had already left with Gwen, to go retcon her Ianto hoped. That left only Ianto in the hub, well Ianto and Lisa. What Ianto wanted more than anything was to be alone with Jack but ever since Owen and Tosh had come in the team had been busy cleaning up Suzie's mess. Ianto was exhausted, it was almost 7 am on Saturday and the man had been up since 5:30 am on Friday. He had one more thing to do and then he planned on going into the bunker under Jack's office and becoming dead to the world for at least four hours.

Ianto sighed and made the trip down to Lisa's room. This time she thankfully remained asleep while he changed her IV bags. Once he finished he pulled up a chair to sit beside her and gently took her hand. She made no response. He didn't expect her to he had given her a little extra sedative in her IV this time.

"I love you," he said to her even though she couldn't hear him, "I love Jack to though, hell sometimes I even think I love Jason," he gave a little hysterical laugh.

"Anyway, I just wanted to say, I will keep my promise to you. The doctor will be here next month and I am certain he will cure you, and then I will take you away from here no matter who else I may love. We could go to an island in the Caribbean. I know how much you love the beach." he stopped talking and kissed her hand while sobbing quietly.

He arose from the folding chair and made his way back to the main hub. He shut down all the things that needed to be shut down and then made his way to Jack's bunker. Once he got there he removed all his clothing and collapsed into the small bed, not bothering to get under the covers.

TW-TW-TW-TW

Ianto awoke to someone gently rubbing his back, it felt really good. He moaned softly.

"Are you awake," Jack's voice asked.

"Im nuh," Ianto mumbled into the pillow.

Jack chuckled softly, "What?" he asked.

Ianto lifted his head up slightly. "I am now," he said and then dropped his head back onto the pillow.

Jack moved closer to the half-asleep Welshman and wrapped his arm tightly around the man's back. Ianto turned his head to the side so he could see Jack. Jack smiled softly.

"I am sorry I didn't take your warning to heart," Jack whispered.

"S okay, Sir," Ianto mumbled, he was too tired to have this conversation he vaguely wondered what time it was. He shifted down a bit so he could rest his forehead on Jack's shoulder. Jack bent down and kissed the side of the younger man's head.

"No it's not, if I hadn't been so stubborn and had just listened to you. God, I could have prevented the deaths of the last two victims and Suzie," Jack said as he softly played with Ianto's hair.

The older man sighed and let his hand fall back down to Ianto's middle back. "You should hate me, yet I come home to find you naked in my bed, like it was Christmas or something," Jack said as he moved his hand down and gently rubbed Ianto arse. Ianto moaned and pushed back into Jack's hand. Jack chuckled and moved his hand back to Ianto's middle back.

"Stop it I am trying to have a serious conversation here," Jack teased.  
"You started it, sir," Ianto mumbled.

"Anyway," Jack said, gently slapping Ianto arse, "do you have any questions about the whole, 'I can't die,' thing?"

"No, Sir," Ianto lied.

Jack shifted Ianto so that he was on his back then straddled him.

"Sir, I'm tired," Ianto moaned.

Jack looked down at him and raised an eyebrow, "You are handling this a lot better than most," Jack mused.

"That's what Torchwood does to a person sir, we believe the impossible." Ianto said with a yawn.

Jack narrowed his eyes, "I think you call me sir more when we are in bed than at any other time. One would think it would be the other way around," Jack said as he bent down so his face was only an inch away from Ianto's, "Why?" he questioned.

Ianto shrugged. Ianto knew why of course, it was out of habit. Anytime he had been in bed with Jason calling the other man sir had been a requirement. It was really hard to break three years of training.

"Well cut it out," Jack teased.

"I will try my best, Jack," Ianto said.

Jack captured Ianto's lips with his own and gently forced them open so he could immediately deepen the kiss. Ianto leaned his head up into it and moaned slightly. Far too soon for Ianto's liking Jack pulled away causing the young man to whimper.

"I promise to trust your instincts from now on," Jack said softly running his thumb along Ianto's bottom lip.

Ianto reached up and grabbed Jack's hand to prevent the man from pulling it away. He gently took Jack's thumb into his mouth and sucked on it seductively. He smiled slightly when the man moaned above him and moaned himself when Jack began to gently grind against him.

Jack chuckled as he gently took his hand back, while continuing to move against Ianto. "What happened to the Welshman that was moaning about being tired just moments ago," he teased.

"He is still tired, so you should probably do all the work," Ianto retorted.

"Mmm is that right, would that give me complete control then?" Jack asked.

"To an extent," Ianto answered.

Jack got off the bed and stood beside it. Ianto looked over at him. He was only wearing his trousers. Ianto was actually surprised he even had that on.

"Roll over onto your stomach and pretend you're asleep," Jack said.

Ianto raised his eyebrows. "You are an odd duck Jack, do you know that," he said.

Jack smiled, "Fine you don't have to pretend to be asleep," he huffed.

Ianto turned onto his stomach and waited. He heard Jack rifling through a drawer in his dresser. Ianto inwardly groaned Jack kept his secret stash of alien sex toys in that dresser.

"Jack, if you don't hurry up I am going to actually fall asleep," Ianto moaned.

"Good," Jack teased, "less Welsh moaning that way."

"Thought you liked the way I moaned," Ianto pouted.

"Mmm dirty talk, I think I have corrupted you," Jack said.

Ianto heard the drawer close and began to feel a bit nervous.

"What do you have?" Ianto questioned. Ianto had a strict 'no alien devices near me while I am without clothing' rule.

"Do we have trust issues?" Jack teased.

"Yep," Ianto answered.

"It's not alien," Jack said with an obvious sigh.

"Okay," Ianto conceded.

Ianto felt Jack's weight straddle his back. No more trousers, Ianto thought. He then gasped when he felt hot liquid fall on to his back.

"Warn a guy next time, Jack" Ianto said.

"But then I wouldn't get to hear that beautiful sound you just made," Jack pouted as he began to massage Ianto's upper back with what Ianto realized was heated oil.

"That's going to ruin your sheets," Ianto said trying to suppress a moan as Jack worked on a particularly tense spot.

"Hush it," Jack said as he moved to Ianto's lower back, "You feel so tense, you need this."

"I am probably tense because my boss is a total dick," Ianto said his voice shallow but teasing.

"Mmm, bet he wants to ride you all the time," Jack said as he moved off Ianto and started to prepare him using the oil still on his hands.

Ianto couldn't think of a response nor could he hold in his moans any longer. Jack turned him on to his side and bent his legs in a way Ianto didn't know he could bend then he slowly entered him. Ianto felt his breathing increase when Jack started to stroke him and thrust in to him with the same tempo.

Jack bent down so that Ianto could feel the man's hot breath against his ear. "You are so amazing," Jack said softly, "I don't think you know how much I need you."

Ianto felt Jack's love for him rush through his veins even if the man didn't say it out loud.

"I need you too, Jack," Ianto managed to breathe out right before he came.

TW-TW-TW-TW-TW-TW

When Jack and Ianto finally pried themselves out of bed it was 2pm. Ianto went straight to the coffee machine and Jack sat down on the old ratty couch. Ianto joined him minutes later with fresh coffee for both of them.

"So did you give her a higher dose this time?" Ianto asked as he handed Jack a coffee.

"Nope I kinda hired her," Jack said not meeting Ianto gaze.

"You can't kinda hire someone, Jack" Ianto said with slight annoyance.

"Fine, I hired her; we need the extra field agent. You and Tosh aren't much help in that area, and Gwen is already a trained police officer," Jack said trying to defend his actions.

Ianto raised his eyebrows, "I'll have you know I took martial arts classes in my teens, I am very good at attacking." Ianto said which caused Jack to laugh loudly. The immortal stopped when he saw the frown on Ianto's face.

"Oh, you were serious," he said putting his coffee down and then raising his hands in mock surrender, "Tell you what; if I need any attacking done you will be the first Welshman I call."

Ianto rolled his eyes, if Jack only knew, he thought.

"Anyway, if you are done being a complete ass," Ianto pouted, "I don't care that you hired Gwen Cooper so stop being so defensive."

Jack smiled and then lightly touched Ianto's cheek, "I know you are more than capable of field work Ianto I am just teasing. It's Owen who says you aren't allowed to do any because of your PTSD."

Ianto shook his head, "I don't have that," he pouted.

"Right, but you are taking the medication Owen prescribed for it aren't you?" Jack questioned.

Ianto sighed, "When is Miss Cooper's first day?" he asked avoiding Jack's question.

Jack looked at Ianto uneasily obviously noticing the dodged question, "umm Monday," he said.

Ianto nodded. "Well I hope she is enjoying the last weekend she will ever get," he said in a teasing tone.

Jack grinned hopefully forgetting all questions that deal with unneeded medications. "I don't know," the older man said, "the rest of today seems pretty clear as does tomorrow as far as the rift goes. So I guess we are getting that weekend to," Jack finished mock punching Ianto's shoulder.

"So what do normal people do on Saturday afternoon's?" Jack questioned.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe go see a film," Ianto said taking a sip of his coffee.

"Let's go see a film then," Jack said attempting to match Ianto's Welsh accent, causing Ianto to roll his eyes.

"OH," Jack exclaimed excitedly, "let's sit in the back row and fool around."

"We could fool around here Jack." Ianto said frowning.

"Where's the fun in that," Jack pouted.

When the movie was over Ianto made up his mind that it would be the last one he ever went to with Jack Harkness. The man refused to stay still and constantly switched between whispering naughty things in Ianto's ear and attempting to grope the younger man. As the credits rolled Ianto came to the decision that Jack had ADHD and was a sex addict. Ianto was certain the later of the two was true because as soon as they were both safely in the Torchwood SUV Jack wasted no time doing some of the more dirty things he had promised Ianto he would do during the film.

TW-TW-TW-TW

On Sunday Jack and Ianto spent the morning packing up Suzie's flat. Then at noon they returned to the hub for lunch and to meet Gwen to do all the paperwork that comes with a new hire.

"You look familiar," Gwen said to Ianto as he showed her how to log in to the Torchwood mainframe.

Ianto shrugged. He was sure she hadn't seen him that day he saw her with Jason so he didn't know why she would know him. He went on explaining about passwords, "You don't have to, but I suggest you change your password every two weeks or so. Tosh will always figure it out of course, but it is healthy to keep her on her toes. Also best to stay on her good side or she will 'accidentally' lock you out of the system." He looked over to see her staring at him as if he had something on his face.

"Did you use to work at a home for wayward teens?" She questioned.

Ianto panicked for a second on the inside, but then rewound her question in his head. She had said worked for not lived in. "Nope," he said casually.

She laughed, "Of course not that couldn't have been you it was going on 4 years ago, the guy I am thinking of was in his late 20's at the time. You would have been in your teen's yourself. See I kinda dated the owner of the place. Well for a night," she winked as if that was a joke, Ianto wasn't amused.

"Anyway," Gwen continued, "there was another bloke at the home when I went there, he favored you, but now that I think about it he had a scar on his cheek, so defiantly not you. Maybe he is your long lost bother or something," She concluded finally ending her rant.

Ianto decided right then that Gwen Cooper talked way too much, he now knew things he was sure he wasn't supposed to. He was going to call and talk to Jason about it anyway. Could be Gwen was wrong and the man she met at Jason could just be another man with brown hair and blue eyes. It didn't have to be who he thought it probably was.

Ianto put on a fake smile and looked at Gwen, "Maybe," he said to her, "Anyway that hall there leads down to the archives, that is where my main office is. Don't go in there without me or Jack, or you will get lost. Okay."

She nodded.

"Good, okay go to Jack's office and he will let you sign the rest of the papers and give you your pass card," he said to her and then watched as she walked away.

When Gwen finally emerged from Jack's office and left the hub almost 45 minutes later Ianto stuck his head into the office to look at Jack. He was smiling down at his desk looking at the paper work that Ianto assumed was Gwen's. Ianto cleared his throat to get the man attention.

Jack looked up as if he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Ianto, hey," He said stumbling over the words, which was quite a feat because there had only been two of them.

Ianto raised his eyebrows, "I am going to step out for a bit. You finish Gwen's paper work and when I get back we can go move Suzie's belongings in to storage," he said.

"Sure," Jack said. Ianto began to walk away then he heard Jack mumble, "I thought I was the boss."

"Not on days like this sir," Ianto called as he went through the cog door.

Ianto walked to his car and got into the passenger's seat. He activated a piece of tech he had stashed in the glove box that he had stolen from Torchwood London. If his car was bugged for some reason the whole time the tiny blue stone was active all the bug would be able to pick up would be static .He sighed and dialed Jason's cell phone.

"Hey baby, to what do I owe the pleasure," came Jason's voice on the other end.

"First off, don't call me that, secondly, Torchwood has hired a new girl by the name of Gwen Cooper. Do you know her?" Ianto said into the phone.

"Nope," Jason answered simply.

"Oh well she is the girl you cheated on me with," Ianto said calmly.

He heard Jason sigh on the other end of the call. "I didn't cheat on you Ianto, we were not exclusive, I don't do exclusive. Bet your hero Harkness doesn't either," Jason pouted.

"I didn't call to talk about our past," Ianto said choosing to ignore Jason's jab at Jack.

"Could've fooled me," Jason said so low Ianto almost didn't catch it.

"Anyway, Gwen recognized me from your house. One small problem though, she said I was older and had a scar on my cheek. Got any explanation for that," Ianto said.

"She was drunk," Jason tried.

"Do you think I am stupid," Ianto snapped.

"Of course not, I think you are very intelligent, so intelligent that you already know the explanation for why she recognized you, so intelligent that you know very well that I can't disclose the information that you want. So intelligent that you shouldn't want that information in the first place," Jason said sternly.

Jason was right; Ianto had already figured it out. Future him was in Cardiff, or had been in Cardiff nearly four years ago. Not only that but he had been at Jason's house at the same time as younger him and had met Gwen Cooper.

"Are you still there," came Jason's voice through the phone.

"Yes," Ianto said sounding chastised, "It's just a lot to take in is all."

"Yes, well best not to think about it," Jason said softly.

"Ya, okay well I've gotta get back to work, talk to you later," Ianto said with a sigh.

"Okay bye, oh and I love you," Jason said as Ianto ended the call.

TW-TW-TW-TW-TW

It was dark by the time Jack and Ianto were heading back to the hub after delivering the last load of Suzie's belongings into storage. The night looked peaceful and Ianto had just let out a sigh when something big and fiery flew across the Cardiff skyline.

Jack pulled the SUV over and they watched as the fireball crashed into the horizon.

Jack looked at Ianto and said, "Rally the troops, solider."


	15. Chapter 15

AN: Hey, so I received no feedback about whether or not to include the novels, so I have decided myself. Oh did you want me to tell you? Well you will just have to wait. Anyway, there is smut in this chapter, so be warned.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood

Spoilers: Day One

Warning: M/M Sex, curse words, you know all the usual stuff.

Ianto stayed at the hub while the others went to see about the fireball. He had a feeling this was going to be one of those nights where no one got any sleep, so for the sake of his sanity, he took a nap on the couch while the team was out.

His sleep was uneasy though. He dreamed of meeting himself and finding out his own future. In one particular dream he dreamed his older self said he was seven thousand years old. When he woke up from that one he decided he had enough sleep. It was a good thing he had because five minutes later Jack called him on his comm.

"Ianto let me hear your voice," Came Jack's American accent.

"Here sir," Ianto said back with a bit of a yawn.

"Are you sleeping on the job," Jack teased.

"Yep," Ianto answered truthfully.

"Oh I should probably punish you for that," Jack said seductively.

"Oi, Harkness, stop flirting with Tea-boy and tell him the reason you interrupted his nap," Owen's voice snapped.

"Are you jealous, Owen," Ianto said. He had a feeling Owen had a bit of hero worship thing for Jack.

"As if he flirts with me too," Owen said, Ianto could hear a slight pout in his voice.

"Anyway, the reason I have taken you from your beauty sleep Ianto, which I might add you don't need, is because we may have made a tiny mess," Jack said.

Before Ianto could answer Owen chimed in, "We didn't make a tiny mess, newbie made a giant one."

"I am so sorry," Gwen's voice said.

"Anyway," Jack said again, "I need you to look at the 999 calls and see if you find any that are out of the ordinary."

"Will do sir," Ianto said.

"Thanks see you in a bit," Jack said. Ianto reached up and turn off his comm.

And so it begins, he thought as he walked to Tosh's computer and began to look through the 999 calls.

Ianto found what Jack wanted fairly easy. A death at the night club Night Spot, clever name Ianto mused. Apparently the body had been found in the ladies room but it was just a pile of black sand. Interesting, well and sad of course, Ianto thought. He printed the report and waited for the team to arrive back.

When they did Ianto stayed out of their way as they all assembled in the medical bay. Gwen was apologizing profusely, Owen was complaining, Jack was trying to remain calm, and Tosh was behaving in her usual passive manner.

Finally Jack put an end to Owen and Gwen's banter, "We all make mistakes, get over it, now we find and recover whatever came out of there," he said pointing to a rock inside a metal containment box.

Ianto felt that now would be a good time to tell them about the night club death. He cleared his throat and they all looked up to where he was standing on the observation deck.

"This might help. Night club death been called in to 999. Circumstances sound a little unusual. Might be connected," he said trying to hide his annoyance when Gwen came to stand next to him and took his clip board.

"But this says the body is just a pile of sand, that can't be right," Gwen said looking around at the rest of the team in disbelief.

Ianto hoped Gwen's unwillingness to believe the impossible would pass quickly because he found it quite annoying.

TW-TW-TW-TW-TW

When the team came back they had the name of the victim. Matt Stephen's, a 19 year old student who was turned to dust whilst having an orgasm, only with Torchwood would that be possible. What they didn't have, but needed, was the name of the murderer.

Ianto was heading down the stairs with fresh coffee when Tosh named the two gases the alien seemed to be made of.

"Great my two favorite gases," Jack replied to her. He then looked towards Owen. "Check and find out what we know about them," he said as Ianto began to hand out coffees to his sleep deprived teammates.

"I'm all over it," Owen replied to Jack.

"What's this doing," Gwen said looking over Tosh's shoulder to her computer. Ianto knew how much Tosh hated that.

Tosh didn't look up from her computer as she replied, "I've taken an image of the girl from the CCTV footage. This cross references her face with the UK population."

Gwen looked a bit confused. "You can't have every face in the UK in there. That would be against civil liberties, data protection, all that stuff," she said in disbelief.

"Still doing that you instead of we thing," Jack said, apparently they had already had a similar conversation.

"Damn," Owen said suddenly from his computer, "119 suspects. This thing supposed to give us a single clear match." He sank back into his chair and slightly chewed his pen.

"The CCTV was to low res. I've tried magnifying and augmenting it just breaks up. Which means the software can't function," said Tosh sounding a bit sad that her tech was disappointing Owen.

Ianto attempted to rescue her from her despair. "It's narrowed the numbers down. I can check through the rest," he said. Everyone looked at him with questioning eyes. "You know the old fashioned way, with my eyes," he said sarcastically in answer to their gazes. Everyone smiled at him as if he was an adorable little child.

"What about the finger prints I took of the alley wall," Gwen said effectively taking the attention away from Ianto. He didn't mind.

Tosh typed something into her computer, which then flashed with images of fingerprints and then gave the no match sign.

Gwen looked defeated, "It was a long shot," she pouted.

"Yeah, just a bit," Owen said. Ianto wondered how long it would be till the two were shagging.

"At least I'm trying to do something," Gwen snapped at the doctor. Ianto gave it two months tops, maybe he and Tosh could bet on it. Nah, he thought. It was clear that Tosh had a not so secret crush on the doctor.

Jack would bet with him. Ianto looked over at the immortal. He was currently staring at Gwen, no not staring, leering. Well that's off, Ianto thought as green fire shot through his veins.

"No, you're trying to do anything," Owen retorted, ending Ianto's train of thought.

Ianto decided it was a good time to slip away to the archives. No one seemed to need him here anyway. He wandered down to his small office to shift through the artifacts and files. They never disappointed him, nor did they leer at the new girl.

Surprisingly it wasn't Jack that found Ianto sitting at his desk some 20 minutes later but Owen.

"Jack says you are not taking your meds," Owen said as a way of greeting as he leaned against Ianto's desk and looked down at him.

Ianto inwardly groaned. "Jack says a lot of things," he answered the doctor as he tossed his pen onto his desk.

"Trouble in paradise?" Owen questioned.

"What," Ianto asked looking up at the doctor with confusion.

"Look, I know you are shagging Jack. You must be feeling pretty jealous the way he is flirting with Gwen. I know he flirts with everyone, but I think he means it with her," Owen said.

Ianto was sure his eyes turned from blue to green. What did Owen mean Jack was flirting with Gwen, sure he had seen the looks but he hadn't witnessed any flirting. "I don't know what you are talking about," Ianto finally said as a way to deny everything.

"Whatever, I don't care about your domestic issues with Jack. What I am concerned with is you having another flashback or anxiety attack and injuring yourself of someone else," Owen said.

"I don't have post-traumatic stress disorder Owen," Ianto lashed out as he rose from his seat and headed to the door. Owen grabbed him before he could make it there. This action left Ianto with a dilemma, he could easily disengage himself from Owen's hands, but if he did it would show just how much they underestimate his abilities.

So he let Owen push him against the wall of his office as if he had no way out. In reality he had many, even if Owen was stronger than Ianto would have originally thought. "I am your doctor, I decide whether you have PTSD or not and I say you do. Now starting taking your medicine or I will tell Jack I want to put you on suicide watch. Would you like to live in the hub?" Owen threatened.

"Fine," he finally answered though he had no intention of taking the medication, but he also didn't want to be stuck at the hub, "let me go now."

Owen backed up, "I only do this because I care mate. This isn't something that you can just ignore."

Ianto didn't say anything he just left the office and headed towards the main hub. When he got there he went to make another round of coffee.

"Found her," Tosh declared as he finished making the coffee. It wasn't long after that and he was watching the team leave all wearing white hazmat suits.

As soon as the cog door closed behind them Ianto dialed Lavender's number, he needed to know if Matt Stephens was a rift child or not.

"Aria Miller," came Aria's voice on the other end of the line.

"Hey Aria…" Ianto began but he was cut off by her excited voice.

"Iden, oh I miss you so much, please tell me you have called to say you are coming home."

"It's Ianto," Ianto said, obviously Iden Miller was Welsh.

"Oh, sorry Ianto, Welsh accents all sound the same to me," she said clear disappointment in her voice.

"I could say the same about Australian accents," Ianto teased.

She laughed, "Hey my Aussie accent is sexy," she said defending herself.

"Most say the same about mine," Ianto said, "Anyway, can you check a Matthew Stephens age 19 for me."

"I know him," she said dramatically, "what happened?"

"Shagged to death by an alien," Ianto said.

"Oh my, what a way to go," Aria whispered, "Tink is going to be devastated she liked him."

"Who's Tink?" Ianto questioned.

"Oh Lavender changed her name again," Aria said.

"So she is done with flowers then," Ianto mused.

"Seems to be," Aria answered, "Anyway, yes Matt Stephens is in our system. This was his first life. Cardiff Rift. His guardian was Tomos Adams, also Welsh."

Ianto didn't really need all that information; it would be up to someone else to inform Adams if he didn't already know.

"Okay, thanks Aria, I have to get back to work," Ianto said.

"Alright, bye Ianto," Aria said and then Ianto ended the call.

Ianto bit his lip. He needed to find some black sand to use as a replacement for the remains of Matt Stephens. He added it to his mental to do list. First on his list was a visit to the dry cleaners and then to get lunch for the team. He quickly gathered up some of Jack's clothing and a few of Owen's lab coats then made his way out of the hub.

TW-TW-TW-TW

The tension of the day seemed to melt away as the team ate Chinese food together in the boardroom listening intently to one of Jack's outrageous stories. Ianto loved Jack's stories, well minus the one's that began with 'I had a boyfriend who.'

At the end of the story Jack left to go to the restroom, Owen and Tosh immediately began to interrogate Gwen.

"So what's he told you," Owen said.

"What about," Gwen said a bit confused.

"Himself," said Tosh leaning of the table a bit.

"You've been her longer that I have," Gwen said stating the obvious.

"We were banking on you," Tosh said. Ianto felt a little hurt. They had never asked him questions like this and he would bet money he knew more than Gwen did.

"You're a copper, you're trained to ask questions," Owen chimed in.

"You don't know anything," Gwen said in disbelief.

"Not who he is, not where he's from, nothing, except him being gay," Owen said.

Gwen's eyes widened, "No he's not. Really do you think?" she said.

"No, Owen does but I don't," Tosh put in.

Ianto resisted the urge to tell Gwen that Jack did indeed like men and he knew the exact spot on Jack's neck that if nibbled would cause the man to go instantly hard. Instead he followed Tosh's statement by saying, "And I don't care."

They continued to discuss their mysterious boss until the sound of a woman crying made them all stop.

Gwen was the first to point it out. "What's that sound," she asked.

Ianto reached for the TV remote and turned the volume up. Apparently they had captured the murderer while he was out. She was currently sobbing on the floor of her cell.

Jack reentered the room and sat back down while Gwen got up and moved closer to the TV.

"What are we doing having Chinese while a girl fights for her life?" Gwen questioned them effectively making Ianto feel guilty in more ways than one.

"Actually while we've been eating the computers have been running a full bio scan of Cariss profiling her blood, metabolism, organs, skin, the works. So we can see what effect the alien is having on her. They've also been taking samples of the air in the cell so we can analyze any changes in the environment around her. Now is that enough, do you want more, cause it gets kinda boring," Jack explained.

Gwen shook her head, "You've been hidden down here too long, spending so much time with alien stuff, you've lost what is means to be human," she said.

Ianto was offended he knew what it meant to be human; he just didn't consider himself to be one.

"So remind us, tell me what it means to be human in the 21st century," Jack said obviously not offended.

"Alright," Gwen answered.

TW-TW-TW-TW

While Gwen was making what seemed to be a scrapbook all about Carriss on the window in the rec room, Ianto made his way to the archives to put away a stack of finished reports that had accumulated on his desk. He grabbed them and then went to a room in the archives that was nothing but floor to ceiling filing cabinets. Just as he closed the drawer his last file went into he felt Jack's arms snake around him and then pull him close. The older man's chin rested on Ianto's shoulder.

"Hey," Jack whispered.

"Can I help you, sir," Ianto said calmly.

Ianto felt his calm melt away as Jack quickly pressed him face first against the file cabinets and cuffed his hands behind his back. Panic went through Ianto's mind. Had Jack found Lisa, had he found out about the now destroyed Parker files?

"What the fuck?" Ianto yelled.

"We've had this talk before Ianto," Jack whispered.

What talk? Ianto thought, franticly searching his memory.

"I want you to stop calling me Sir, when we are together like this we are equals," Jack said.

"Okay," Ianto snapped as he struggled against the cuffs.

Jack stilled Ianto, "stop pulling against them you are going to hurt yourself," Jack said rubbing up and down Ianto's upper arms.

"Well, let me go then I won't feel the need to struggle," Ianto said.

"Shh… Just relax; I am not going to hurt you. You know that," Jack said in a calming voice.

Ianto did as he was told.

Jack's hand traveled to the front of Ianto's trousers.

"From now on…" Jack whispered and then undid the button.

"If you call me Sir…" Jack continued as he undid the zip.

"I am going to assume you are mine to do with as I please," he finished pushing Ianto's trousers and boxers over his hips and letting them pool around his ankles.

This is when Ianto regained his ability to speak, "Jack, everyone is here, we can't do this now," he said, his voice cracking at the end because Jack had pushed a lubed finger into him. Ianto wondered momentarily when Jack had lubed it.

Jack used his other hand and grabbed Ianto's hair using it to gently pull the man's head back and expose his neck, he suck gently on the pulse point while still preparing the Welshman.

"Jack, I'm serious," Ianto breathed out.

Jack turned his head so he could whisper into Ianto's ear again, "When you're mine your rules don't matter. If you wanted me to stop you would use your safe word."

Ianto whimpered gently as Jack removed his fingers deciding at that moment he didn't want him to stop. Jack's hand left Ianto's hair and Ianto knew the older man was undoing his own trousers. He then heard the lid popping open on the lube, after another second he heard the bottle fall to the floor.

Jack pulled Ianto slightly away from the filing cabinets and then wrapped and arm around his torso effectively holding the younger man near. Ianto couldn't help the moan that escaped him as Jack slowly entered him.

When Jack was all the way in Ianto heard the man whisper in his ear again.

"Say my name," Jack stated his voice sounding breathy.

"Jack," Ianto somehow managed to say.

"Again," Jack moaned as he began to slowly move.

"Jack," Ianto repeated.

"Mmm, such a good boy," Jack said as he began to speed up his thrusts. He then used his free hand to grasp Ianto clear erection and began to stroke it in time to his thrusts. Ianto let out a moan and leaned his head back against Jack's shoulder.

It was then that Ianto heard the sound of someone activating their comms unit. Ianto felt a jolt of panic, but then remembered that as long as he and Jack didn't activate their comms no one would be able to hear them.

"Jack," came Gwen's voice.

Jack began to remove his hand from around Ianto's torso.

"Don't you dare," Ianto warned, but it was too late. Ianto heard the sound of Jack activating his comms, and Jack was showing no signs of stopping his beautiful assault on Ianto.

Jack placed his now free hand over Ianto's mouth effectively holding the man near again. Ianto pulled against his cuffs in protest.

"Yes, Gwen," Jack said his voice sounding surprisingly even. Ianto closed his eyes and tried to keep his impending orgasm at bay, though it was becoming clear it wouldn't be long.

"I've finished that profile on Carriss, can you come check it out," Gwen said.

"Yes, Gwen I will come in a minute," Jack said. Ianto rolled his eyes.

Jack switched off his phone his hand momentarily leaving Ianto' mouth, Ianto breathed a sigh of relief and then he released in to Jack's hand followed not long after by Jack's release.

Jack took a step back and Ianto leaned against the filing cabinets to catch his breath. As his heart rate returned to normal his anger toward the man now standing next to him holding out a handkerchief grew.

"Uncuff me," Ianto demanded.

Jack smiled, "don't you want me to clean you off first," he teased.

"No, I can manage that myself thanks," Ianto snapped.

Jack released his wrists. Ianto took the handkerchief and cleaned himself off, he then quickly pull his pants back on and then turned and glared at Jack.

"Something wrong?" Jack asked cautiously.

Ianto was dumbfounded. Is something wrong? Ianto had a whole list of somethings, but he knew that if he opened that can of worms he and Jack would end up in a shouting match and that was the second item on his list of 'things not allowed while others are in the hub.' Jack had already broken the first.

So Ianto just rolled his eyes and without saying anything made his way out of the archives and to the tourist office. He had a game of solitaire pulled up on that computer and he intended to finish it.

After his fourth game of solitaire the wall that led to the hub suddenly opened and out came Carriss holding the hand in a jar that Jack seemed so fond of. She was about to head to the door, but then seemed to take notice of Ianto.

"You are like the one from last night, different from other humans. He made the pain stay away for so long," the alien said through Carriss. She took a step closer to him.

"Umm yes well that's nice," Ianto began holding up his hand, "Stay where…" He caught a whiff of her pheromones and took a step towards her.

Suddenly Jack came busting into the office his gun at the ready. Jack's own pheromones seemed to jolt Ianto out of his trance.

"Need me to do any attacking, Sir," Ianto said.

"Appreciate the offer just open the door," Jack said calmly to Ianto.

Ianto pressed the button that opened the door; Carriss looked out it still holding the jar.

"Now give me the jar," Jack said to her, but instead of doing that she chucked it over the counter where it broke on the floor and then retreated out of the tourist center.

"No," Jack yelled as he leaped over the counter and picked up the hand.

Gwen and Tosh appeared moments later took one look at Jack and then bolted out the door.

Ianto knelt down next to Jack and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Let's take it down stairs and get it a new jar," he said softly as if talking to a child whose toy had broken.

In the elevator on the way down to the hub Jack turned towards Ianto. "Are you mad at me?" he asked softly.

"Yes," Ianto answered.

"Why?" Jack demanded his voice a higher octave than Ianto thought it should be.

Ianto looked directly at Jack and raised his eyebrows, "we can discuss it later," he said his voice low.

"Oh, yes of course. Wouldn't want to break another of your little rules now would we," Jack huffed with sarcasm.

Ianto refused to be baited in to a fight at the moment so he remained quiet the rest of the way down to the hub.

Once they arrived Ianto helped Jack place the hand into a new jar then Jack told Ianto to go home.

Ianto hesitated to obey. He looked around to see if the others were within ear shot. Thankfully they were not.

"Are you going to come over later?" Ianto asked cautiously.

Jack took his eyes off the hand and looked at Ianto, "wouldn't want your neighbors to hear us fighting," Jack said.

"I don't care if my neighbors hear Jack. They are probably use to us by now," Ianto said.

"So it's okay for your neighbors to know you like men but not the team?" Jack said coldly looking back at the hand.

"Do you hear yourself? I don't care if the team knows I'm gay, I care if they know I am shagging the boss and they look down on me enough," Ianto snapped, "Come over or don't, I don't care either way." And with that said Ianto made his way out of the hub and headed home.


	16. Chapter 16

AN: Okay, don't hate me for the end of this chapter. It had to happen.

Disclaimers: I don't own Torchwood

Spoilers: Day one

Warning: cuss words, mentions of sex, all that stuff.

Ianto arrived at his flat and went in. He closed and locked the door then began to empty his pockets in to the bowl on his entrance table.

"You're home early," Said a male voice behind him.

He turned startled to see Jason lying across his couch sans shirt watching the television. Jason had an amazing chest and stomach. Apparently men worked out hard in the 10th century.

Jason must have realized Ianto was admiring the view because he placed his hands behind his head and arched his back up enhancing the just how ripped he was. Ianto guessed he could have been just stretching, not trying to torture him, but this was Jason.

"See something you like?" Jason purred.

Ianto snapped back into reality. "What are you doing here, and while we are at it how you do know I am home early?" Ianto asked.

"I think babies learn how to cry louder as they grow. When they first brought her home she wasn't like this," Jason said as if that was all the explanation he needed to give.

"You live in a mansion, I am sure you could find a place where you didn't hear the baby," Ianto sated taking off his suit jacket and heading towards his bedroom to change.

"I hate children," Jason pouted.

"No you don't," Ianto called over his shoulder.

He quickly changed into some track bottoms and a thin t-shirt and returned to the living area. Jason smiled at him when he walked back in.

"Remember when you use to like to walk around naked," Jason said.

"I remember when it was a requirement," Ianto said pushing Jason's feet off his couch and straightening the throw pillow, "where is your shirt?"

"Spilled coffee on it; wait it was not a requirement," Jason said.

"You used my coffee maker, and bull shit is wasn't a requirement," Ianto snapped.

"I bought that coffee maker I can use it if I want, and it was more of a suggestion, you know to make me happy. You use to like to make me happy," Jason pouted.

That was true to an extent, happy Jason was easy-going, fun, and easy to fall for. So Ianto had done everything possible to keep Jason happy, because angry Jason scared the shit out of him.

"Do you want one of my shirts?" Ianto asked as a change of subject.

"Can I have this one?" Jason asked sitting up and pulling Ianto closer by his shirt.

"I am currently using this one," Ianto said removing Jason's hand and walking towards the kitchen. "I am getting a beer do you want one," he asked always a perfect host.

"No, but you go ahead and drink four for me and four for you, I love it when you are drunk," Jason teased.

Ianto smiled. "Well I only have 6 so that will have to do," Ianto said.

"That should be enough for me to be able to take advantage of you," Jason said.

Ianto ignored him and went to his fridge and grabbed the whole 6 pack of beer. He came back into the living room and sat it on the coffee table he then took a seat next to Jason on the couch.

"Rough day," Jason asked opening the first beer and handing it to Ianto.

"Yes," Ianto said simply.

"Wanna talk about it," Jason said.

Ianto found that he did want to talk about it. "Gwen Cooper and I attract the same type of men it seems, Jack is obsessed with her. Then Owen is on my case about taking medication for PTSD, which I don't have. Then Jack decides to fuck me in the archives, with the communication device in his ear activated. Finally a sex crazed alien noticed that I was different and I won't be able to delete the footage from our interaction until tomorrow. So I just have to pray that Tosh doesn't look too closely at the footage. There is no audio so it should be okay," Ianto ranted.

"Wait go back to being fucked in the archives," Jason said. Ianto hit him with a pillow then laughed out loud.

"God, he is so opposite of you, he gets so touchy when I call him sir, so today, I guess as a way to fix it, he handcuffed me and said every time I call him sir he is going to 'assume I am his to do with as he pleases," Ianto said.

"How long you think it's going to take him to realize you like that," Jason asked.

Ianto shrugged not about to discuss what he liked in bed even with his past lover. Jason took the now empty bottle from him and handed him a new one.

"Bond," Jason suggested.

Ianto nodded. Jason got up and put a Bond movie in then sat back down. He gently grabbed Ianto's hand and held it, not in a sexual way just in a way that said I am here.

After Ianto finally polished off the sixth beer they were in the middle of the second movie Jason spoke again.

"Remember the first time I got you drunk," Jason whispered. Ianto looked over at him and nodded.

"I think it was the first time you actually relaxed around me," he said still whispering, "was I really that scary?"

"Yes, you still scare me sometimes," Ianto answered truthfully.

Jason nodded and then gently ran his hand along Ianto's cheek. "Can I stay the night," he asked.

Ianto didn't get to answer because someone began knocking on the door.

"Expecting someone," Jason said dropping his hand in clear disappointment at the interruption.

"Umm yeah, I just didn't…" Ianto began but didn't finish as he got up from the couch. He was mentally chastising himself because he had been about to say yes to Jason.

Ianto walked to the door and then looked back at Jason sitting shirtless on his couch. This didn't look suspicious at all, he thought. He opened the door because he knew Jack would find a way in anyway and if that occurred it would be even more suspicious.

"Hello," Ianto said a bit sheepish.

"Hey, can I come in?" Jack asked.

Ianto realized he was drunk. Which made him more of a smartass then he usually was. "I don't know can you, sir," Ianto asked putting extra emphasis on the sir.

Jack immediately pushed his way in closed and locked the door then pushed Ianto up against it roughly.

"Didn't we just go over this," Jack said grinding up against Ianto and looking straight in to his eyes.

Ianto drew a blank for a moment then remembered Jason, who now appeared to be getting a free show.

"Jack we have company," Ianto said trying not to moan. Jack backed away and turned around, seemingly unashamed of his clear erection.

"Yes so it seems," Jack said looking straight at Jason who was now standing and seemed to be glaring at Jack. Ianto really hoped Jason kept his cool.

"Umm… Jack this is my best mate, Jason," Ianto said coming to stand next to Jack now that his own erection had seemed to subside.

"Captain Jack Harkness," Jack said shaking Jason's hand. When he retreated he put an arm around Ianto's waist. "I am Ianto's boyfriend," he said making his claim.

"I would hope so," Jason said, "Captain, do you have a boat." Jason's voice was dripping with sarcasm. Ianto sent him a warning look.

"Plane actually," Jack said his voice also sarcastic. Well this is going great, Ianto thought.

"Jason I bet your shirt is probably at least dry by now, Jack and I need to have a chat," Ianto said as a way to get Jason to leave. Ianto didn't think the chat was going to be able to happen though because the room seemed to be spinning.

"Of course, yeah, umm I will just go get it," Jason said walking towards Ianto's room.

When he retreated through the door Jack increased his grip on Ianto and looked at him.

"He is just your friend," Jack said.

"Yep," Ianto answered.

"Well if I spent longer than five minutes alone with him I wouldn't be able to stop myself, he is hot," Jack teased.

"Yes well, just a friend," Ianto lied.

Ianto moved out of Jack's embrace and began to put the now empty beer bottles back in the cardboard carrying case. He then took it to his kitchen.

When Ianto came back Jason was there wearing a coffee stained blue t-shirt. He walked over and gave Ianto a brief kiss on the cheek.

"I had fun. I will talk to you tomorrow maybe?" Jason said.

"Yeah, of course," Ianto said then watched as Jason left the flat.

Jack waited a whole ten seconds before he grabbed Ianto and pushed him on to the couch quickly straddling him, "Now what was that deal we made? Ah that's right; you call me sir, I do with you as I please," he said grabbing Ianto's hands and placing them behind the Welshman's head. "Don't you dare move those hands," he warned as he bent down and started to nibble on Ianto's ear.

Ianto did move his hand though, he was too tired to keep them there and he was too drunk to play.

In his drunken state he had forgotten that for Jack to stop he needed to use his safe word. Jack stood up.

"I said not to move your hands," he said as he pulled Ianto into a standing position and then started to direct him towards the bed room. Ianto momentarily forgot why he had moved his hands, he didn't remember until Jack had him naked and bent over the bed hand cuffs securing his wrists behind his back.

"This is because you disobeyed a direct order do you understand," Jack said his voice calm and steady.

Understand what, Ianto thought.

Jack straddled Ianto's legs and pulled Ianto's head back so he could look into his eyes, "I asked… are you drunk?" Jack said releasing Ianto's head and then uncuffing him. He pushed Ianto all the way up onto the bed and turned him over. Ianto fell asleep; apparently mixing alcohol with no sleep does that to a person.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto woke up naked with a headache and curled up next to Jack. How did that happen, he wondered. He turned to look at his digital clock. 3:17 am.

"Hey sleepy head," Jack said softly, Ianto turned and looked back at him. "How many of those 6 beers did you drink?" Jack asked.

"6," Ianto replied, placing a hand over his eye, "I have a headache."

"I am sure you do," Jack said sounding as if Ianto deserved it.

Ianto got up of the bed, "fuck you, Jack, what are you in my bed for anyway, I am still mad at you," Ianto said as he stumbled towards his on suite bathroom.

Jack got up to and steadied Ianto, "I don't think you are all the way sober yet baby let me help you."

"Don't call me baby," Ianto growled. Jack helped Ianto get some Advil then lead him back to the bed.

"As soon as your headache goes away we can discuss the reason you are mad at me," Jack said softly as he covered Ianto with the duvet.

"Reasons," Ianto yelled as Jack left the room.

At 4 o'clock Ianto's head ache finally started to subside and he pulled on some boxers and left his bedroom. Jack was sitting on the sofa staring at the currently turned off telly. Ianto sat down next to him.

"I've seen this one, they all die in the end," Ianto deadpanned.

Jack looked over at him and smiled, "Well no point in watching it now," he teased.

"Do you want to know why I am pissed at you?" Ianto asked.

"Yes, as of like 12 hours ago," Jack said the smile he had been wearing fading away.

"You told Owen I wasn't taking my med's, you activated the comms while fucking me, and…" Ianto began but stopped because he knew the third reason was going to make Jack mad.

"And," Jack said.

"You have been leering and flirting with the new girl," Ianto finished quickly.

"I flirt with everyone, Ianto, it is who I am and I won't change that for anyone!" Jack said sternly standing up from the couch and looking down at Ianto.

Ianto was about to comment but Jack held up his hand to stop him, "And yes I did tell Owen, for the safety of the team, remember how you shot up the coffee machine, what if that had been Tosh, or Owen, or me. You need to take those med's!"

Ianto tried to interrupt again but was unsuccessful, "I am not finished; there is no way the team doesn't already know we are fucking so I don't know why you have such an issue. Are you ashamed about it?"

The truth was Ianto was ashamed but not for the reason's Jack might think. He was being unfaithful to Lisa.

Jack must have seen that he had hit the nail on the head with his ashamed comment, "You are ashamed," Jack said his voice low.

Ianto's lack of denial seemed to fuel Jack's anger. "What is there to be ashamed of," Jack said, "It's just sex, in fact why are we even discussing any of these issues; we are not in a relationship!"

"I am your personal assistant and I am fucking you, that is about as slutty as it can get Jack," Ianto said, "and did you not introduce yourself to Jason as my boyfriend? That seems like we are in a relationship to me."

"I was staking my claim," Jack said.

"No one owns me!" Ianto yelled getting up from the couch and coming face to face with Jack.

Jack took a step back, "I didn't mean it like that," He said his voice softer.

"Then what you are telling me is, you are allowed to flirt, kiss, and fuck, your way through the Cardiff phone book, but I am only to be with you," Ianto said calmly, "Is that what you mean by staking your claim."

"In a way," Jack said.

"No, you no longer have any 'claim' to me; from now on we are strictly in a professional relationship. Guess I must have misunderstood when you said you needed me Saturday morning," Ianto said he could feel tears welling up in his eye but he'd be damned if he let them fall and he'd be damned if he was going to feel like he was owned again.

Jack crossed his arms over his chest and raised his chin slightly. Ianto called it his power pose. "No, I do need you Ianto, I need you to make me coffee and clean up all the shit!" Jack said he then turned grabbed his coat from the entry table and left the flat slamming the door behind him.

Ianto feel back on to the couch and curled himself in to a ball. Now that he was alone he let the tears flow freely. After a while they finally started to subside. This was for the best, he thought. Soon he would be leaving Cardiff and never looking back. It was pointless to try and hold on to something that was destined to fail.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto got to the hub at 7:30, per usual. He made coffee and went to Jack's office to deliver it, like a good employee does. Only Jack wasn't in his office, but Gwen was in the adjoining recreation room. No point in letting good coffee go to waste he thought so he joined her.

She was in the process of removing all the photos of Carriss. Ianto realized he didn't even know how that went.

"I will have to order more printer paper if you plan on doing that for every case," Ianto said.

Gwen jumped. "Oh Ianto, I didn't even know you were here," she said.

He handed her Jack's coffee. "Sorry, I am light on my feet, use to come in handy in my teens made it easier to sneak around," Ianto stated.

Gwen smiled. "I bet it did."

"So what happened with Carriss?" Ianto asked.

"Well, we were able to save her but not before she took out several men in a fertility clinic," Gwen answered turning back to her board.

They stood in silence, Ianto wondered who cleaned up the clinic, but he wasn't that worried. After another minute or so Gwen sighed.

"I screwed up so bad with this case," she moaned.

"We all screw up," Ianto said.

Gwen turned and looked at him, "have you made any mistakes working here," she asked.

"Just one, falling for Jack," he said seriously, unsure what made him say it.

She smiled, "Oh Ianto always the comedian," she said apparently taking his admission as a joke.

He left not long after that and went to the archives. He began the never ending task that was organizing them.

He was keeling on the floor relabeling a box when he heard someone clear their throat. He turned to see Jack.

"Good morning, Sir would you like some coffee," Ianto said while standing and wiping his pants off.

"I'm sorry," Jack said softly.

"For what, telling the truth, better to hear it now then to be shocked by it later," Ianto said as he passed Jack.

Jack grabbed his arm and tried to pull him near, Ianto fought against it. Jack released his grip. "I didn't mean it Ianto," Jack pouted but Ianto just kept walking.

Jack met him by the coffee machine.

"Almost ready, Sir," Ianto said his voice that of a loyal servant. He poured Jack a cup and handed it to him.

Jack took the mug then sat it down. He reached out and tried to touch Ianto's face but Ianto backed away.

"Please refrain from touching me, sir," Ianto said. In reality he wanted to forgive Jack and have another make up sex day, but he wasn't going to do that.

"I gave the rest of the team the day off, so you are welcome to take it too," Jack said his voice sounding hurt.

"Okay," Ianto said.

"Or you could stay," Jack said so softly Ianto barely heard it. It was enough to break Ianto's heart all over again but he refused to give in. So he pretended he didn't hear Jack and he left the hub.


	17. Chapter 17

AN: Chapter 17. Yay!

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

Spoilers: Ghost Machine

Warning: Implied sex. Implied bondage. Curse words. (All that fun stuff)

It had been almost a week since Ianto had broken if off with Jack, and he was fine. True, he wasn't eating much, but he just wasn't hungry, and maybe he wasn't sleeping much, but that was normal for a Torchwood employee. So what he cried more often than normal for a 22 year old man about to turn 23. He was fine.

It was Sunday night and it was just him and Tosh in the hub, he had come out of his hiding place in the archives as soon as the others had left, he was currently sitting in Owen's computer chair pretending to listen to Tosh give the team directions, but he wasn't paying attention. He just sat in thought.

Jack was still apologizing any chance he could get, still openly flirting with him in front of the team, and was practically watching Ianto like a hawk. It made it hard for Ianto to go see Lisa, but he did at any chance he could. A couple of times he had pretended to leave the hub and then snuck back it. He didn't like doing that though because there was a higher probability of being caught.

"Hey," he heard Tosh yell.

He looked up to see her staring at him. The team must have reached their destination, or were they chasing someone. Ianto didn't remember and he didn't particularly care.

"What's got you so blue?" she questioned.

Ianto pretended to check his skin for signs of it being blue. "I'm not blue," he teased her.

Tosh laughed out loud. "You know what I meant!" she said then asked, "Is it Jack?"

"What would me being upset have to do with Jack," he said casually fiddling with his cuff link.

Tosh bit her lip. "If I admit something to you will you admit something to me?" she asked.

"Let me guess you have a thing for Owen," he said more snap in his response then he meant it to have.

"Yes, and you have one for Jack," she said shortly turning back to her computer.

"Haven't," he said under his breath giving his cuff link more attention.

She turned back towards him, "No use lying to me. I am the queen of crushes. At least you have a chance with Jack. He adores you. Owen never gives me a second look."

"Jack doesn't adore me, it would be all about sex," Ianto pouted finally looking up at Tosh.

"Is that a bad thing?" Tosh teased.

"Well if all you want is sex Tosh, all you gotta do is ask," he said winking at her.

She threw a pen at him. "Every day you become more like Jack," She said.

He sighed, "I think we are both doomed, both of them are obsessed with Gwen."

Tosh raised her eyebrows. "Good thing we know how to fake a person's death," she said with a smile.

Ianto laughed out loud. The cog door opened and he abruptly stopped. Jack, Gwen, and Owen all came through the door. Jack caught Ianto's eye and smiled, Ianto didn't return it. He got up and headed towards the coffee machine.

When he descended the stairs with his tray of coffees Tosh was still at her computer. Jack stood behind her looking over her shoulder. Gwen was standing on the observation deck and Owen was in the med bay. Ianto went to deliver the doctor his coffee first. He attempted to avoid Jack's gaze as he passed him.

"I'd have your babies for this coffee," Owen said as he took his mug off of Ianto's tray.

"I'll have a look in the archives, I am sure we have something to make that possible," Ianto deadpanned.

Owen grinned. "Do you think Jack would give me maternity leave?" he teased.

Ianto rolled his eyes but smiled.

"This is the feed from the station camera," Tosh's voice said.

Ianto looked up to see CCTV footage being projected on the far wall of the medical bay.

"Gwen grabs the kid. She's got his jacket and he just slips out," Tosh continued.

"You okay with this?" Jack asked Gwen as Ianto ascended the stairs of the medical bay.

Ianto almost collided with Jack when he reached the top. He sensed that Jack planned it. Jack smiled softly; Ianto didn't return the smile again. He held up the tray to offer it to Jack even though he knew the man would decline. Jack hadn't touched Ianto's coffee since they had ended their relationship. It annoyed Ianto beyond belief.

Ianto walked over to Tosh to give her a coffee while Gwen started to talk about seeing a ghost or something. Ianto really didn't care. He handed Tosh her coffee and then bent down to whisper in her ear, "Owen said he will have my babies."

She turned and looked up at him. "I know exactly what I would do with your body," she warned playfully.

Ianto raised his eyebrows. "Do you?" he stated then winked.

"I am going to start calling you Jack Jr," she teased keeping her voice low.

"You set yourself up love," he said with a smile.

Ianto left Tosh's station and turned to offer Jack coffee once more.

"You push this button and that caused this apparition moment," Jack was saying to Gwen. He was holding a device that looked like a bent remote control.

"Yeah," Gwen said.

Jack went to push the button. "No," everyone shouted at him.

"As if," Jack said holding his hand up. Ianto noticed he kept his gaze on him a second longer than necessary.

Gwen began to say something else but Ianto wasn't listening. He went up to the coffee machine and poured out the coffees that had been meant for Jack and Gwen then retreated to the archives.  
He sat down at his desk and put his head in his hands. Tears flowed easily. He was so miserable without Jack. What made it worse was that anytime Jack casually touched him he would feel how miserable Jack was without him. None of it matter though. Three weeks from now Dr. Tanizaki would come and help Lisa and then they would be leaving and he would never see Jack Harkness again.

His phones text message alert startled him out of his thoughts. He grabbed it out of his pocket and looked at the message. 'Meeting tomorrow 11 am. DON'T BE LATE. Love Jason.'

TW-TW-TW  
It was almost 10 when Ianto came in to the hub the next morning carrying a bag of pastries and take-away coffees. Those Jack would drink. He went in to Jack's office were the whole team was congregated.  
"Our friend with the alien machine in his pocket in one Sean Harris, aka Bernie," Jack said as Ianto walked in.

"And what he's doing with an alien device is anyone's guess. 19 years old, string of convictions, burglary, shoplifting, credit cards," Gwen said making her way from the rec room to sit in a chair in front of Jack's office.

"Do warn me if he's dropping in," Ianto teased as he offered Jack a pastry.

"Theft convection, he was stealing tires off a car when the owner turns up, and gives him so much grief he apologizes, starts putting them back on again when the police arrive. Shoplifting convention; bottle of vodka and three pot noodles," Tosh said perching against the door of the rec room. Ianto moved on to offer Gwen a pasty and then sat in a chair behind her.

"Criminal mastermind," Owen said while playing the video game in the rec room. "Got anywhere with that mystery object," he called to Jack. Tosh passed by Ianto and took a pastry from his bag. Then Ianto took one his self.

"Alien of course, agh, gorgeous Nano technology. Makes NASA look like toys-r-us," Jack answered his mouth full of food.

"Well you've narrowed things down haven't you," Owen said sarcastically.

"At the station it was doing this," Gwen said looking at the alien machine closely, "and when I held it it lit up and went mad."

"It's not doing it now is it," Owen said shortly.

"No," Gwen said.

"So, what next?" Tosh asked.

"This kid Bernie, where does he live?" Jack asked mouth still full of food.

"Splott," Tosh answered.

"Splott," Owen said with disgust.

"I believe estate agents pronounce it Splow," Ianto said.

"Don't ever say I don't take you anywhere," Jack said finally finishing his food.

The team all started to file out of Jack's office but Ianto remained in his seat.

"If you don't mind Sir, can I have a word," Ianto said as Jack began to get up out of his chair.

Jack nodded and then waved the others out of the room. He closed the door behind them and turned to look at Ianto with a hopeful expression.

"I need to take the rest of today off," Ianto said feeling sorry that Jack had gotten his hopes up.

"Umm, yeah okay," Jack said Ianto could hear the man's disappointment, "Just before you go could you set up the shooting range for me, I am planning on giving Gwen some gun training tonight. I promise to clean it up afterword though."

"Sure," Ianto said. He knew Jack was just trying to get to him and it wasn't going to work. Gun training with Jack always meant some form of sexual harassment. He forced the jealous rage that was building in his stomach down.

Ianto got up to leave then turned back to look at Jack who was leaning against his desk in the same place that they had had sex for the first time. Ianto wondered if the man had chosen that place on purpose. "Didn't she receive gun training in the police, Sir?" he questioned trying to seem casual and not bothered at all by the prospect of Gwen and Jack alone in the gun range.

"No, she was on the beat," Jack said. Ianto saw a flicker of humor in the man's eyes and he wondered how it was possible to want to punch and kiss someone at the same time.

Ianto left the office and looked down at his watch. It would take him a good 30 minutes to set up the range he was going to be late to the meeting.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto arrived at the Victorian house 5 minutes past 11, he could see Jason waiting in the doorway. He would have been there exactly on time but he had had to park down the road due to the amount of cars parked around the house. He walked up to the door and stood in front of Jason.

"It reflects upon me when one of my charges is late Jones," Jason snapped before Ianto could apologize.

Jason grabbed Ianto's upper arm and pulled him into the house. There was no one in the entry way.

"We are meeting in the dining room, you go ahead and keep your cool," Jason said all the sudden sounding a little nervous.

"Why would I not keep my cool?" Ianto asked.

"Just go," Jason snapped.

Ianto went in to the dining room with caution. There was no table just rows of chairs most of them occupied by people. Ianto took a free seat in the back row. He then began to slowly look around the room. He saw Tink; she was standing on a chair conversing with a woman he didn't know. He casually wondered if it was Tara one of Tink's assistants. Then his eyes fell on a baby's face in the front row. She was propped up over the shoulder of a man in a suit. He had dark hair. Sitting next to the man was a girl with blonde hair with pink streaks, which could be none other than the baby's mother Aria Miller. Ianto decided the man holding the baby must be Iden Miller.

"Hello Ianto," said a child's voice beside him. Tink had made her way over to him while he was people watching.

"Hey," he said.

"Did Jason warn you?" she asked casually.

"What about?" Ianto said.

She smiled and was about to speak but Jason's booming voice interrupted her.

"Alright, if everyone could have a seat we will get started. Tink," Jason said he gestured to a pulpit that was in front of all the rows of chairs.

Tink winked at Ianto with a smile then skipped up to the front of the room. When she got there Jason helped her up onto a stool that was behind the pulpit. She placed her tiny hands on either side of the pulpit and leaned forward a bit.

"Thank you all for coming," she began, "I have been the leader of the Cardiff rift for going on 50 years now. I have tried to do what needed to be done as my guardian trained me to do," for some reason she nodded at Iden when she said this. "I enjoy keeping you all inline," everyone laughed, "we are a giant family of cursed souls and we have to stick together. I know many of you know of the tragedy that occurred some two months ago, the Reveal Rebellion; we were forced to relocate close to thirty rift children for their in involvement with the thankfully failed rebellion. I view you all as my children and when one of you leaves it tears me up. So as you all can imagine having to give an order to relocate 30 children really really tore me up..." she paused her speech and wiped her eyes, "I am retiring," she said and murmurs exploded through the room.

Ianto wondered if that was what Jason wanted him to keep his cool about. He was pulled out of his thoughts when Tink continued, "I will be boarding a plane to America at the end of today. I will give the floor over to my guardian and the Minister of the Rifts, and he will explain who is going to take over and his reasons behind the decision, simply because I am too much of a coward. Iden." She nodded at Aria's husband.

Ianto was dumbfounded. The Minister of the Rifts had authority over all rifts on the seemed obsessed with the man when Ianto had lived with him. He was well loved. His name use to be David Carter but apparently his name was Iden Miller now.

The man handed the baby to Aria and stood up. Ianto noticed that his suit was perfectly tailored. As the man helped Tink down from her stool Ianto realized what Jason had told him to keep his cool about. Iden Miller was his future self.

Ianto gasped in disbelief. The lady sitting next to him leaned over, "I take it they didn't warn you," she said. She had dark black hair and a heavy Irish accent. He looked over at her and shook his head.  
Ianto looked straight ahead and realized his future self was smiling directly at him. It was unnerving.

"Hello," Ianto future self said as he positioned himself behind the podium. "I am Iden Miller; I know I haven't met many of you. That's because I am usually traveling. As Tink said I am the Minister of the Rifts. The Cardiff rift bore me, so this is where I will always call home. That is why it is important to me to make sure the rift is in good hands. So I have chosen Jason Sims as the new leader."

The room exploded with shouts this time. Jason was a bastard to everyone it seemed. Ianto looked over at Jason who was leaning against the farthest wall in the dining room. He didn't look at all fazed by everyone unhappiness.

The lady beside Ianto slapped his leg. He looked at her, "Don't blame me," he said.

"He is you," She said pointing to the podium.

"Oi!" Ianto heard his own voice shout.

Everyone grew silent. Iden pointed towards Jason, "this is a good man! He trained me and a few of you. He helped take down the rebellion that threated to reveal us to the world. I know he can be a total ass, but he does things by the book and I have yet to see him fail. He will not fail you!"

Everyone remained silent. "Any questions," Iden said. No one spoke. "Okay, well let's turn the floor over to Jason then."

Ianto's future self-sat back down, next to his future wife who was holding his future child. Ianto felt a head ache building behind his eyes.

"Thank you all for that warm welcoming," Jason said his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I had two separate speeches planned. One for if you didn't throw a fit like children, which I left at home and this one. I have had disagreements with most everyone in this room. I am aware of my status with all of you, but my goal is not to be liked. My goal is to keep the rift and her children safe.

Cardiff is a special rift because it is more volatile and sends us more than just rift children, including Aliens and their technology that are not meant for this century. Because of that there is a secret organization that monitors it. Torchwood 3. Making our life's that much harder while still doing their part to keep our city safe. One of my charges is under-cover there keeping them from becoming wise to us.

The police here in Cardiff are use to weird things. So when they find a naked person in public who claims to be from another time they are likely to believe them. 2 of my charges are currently part of the police department to prevent new arrivals from being arrested sent to Torchwood. Some of you probably remember the tragedy that befell Joy Parker when she was sent to Torchwood.

Rift children live a long time, we all need our names and papers changed on a regular basis. Currently 4 of my charges work within the Cardiff council, providing you all with the documents you need.  
I trained them all to be prepared and they all are. Out there every day, keeping our secrets and keeping us safe.

I will run the Cardiff rift with the same dedication I used while training my charges. None of them have ever disappointed me and I promise not to disappoint you."

When Jason finished his speech the room remained silent for several moments, then Tink stood up on her chair and began to clap everyone followed suit.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto remained in his seat as everyone began to leave. He considered hiding from his self but knew it would do no good. You can't hide from your future self. So he stayed in his seat. He pondered all the things he had just learned about his own future. He would be Tink's guardian. He would be the Minister of the Rifts, he would marry Aria, and her child was his. He knew two of his future names, Iden Miller and David Carter.

When everyone left his future self-took a seat next to him. "I know," Iden said.

Ianto looked over at him then looked away. It was just too weird.

"This is weird for me too. Like de-ja-vu. I went through this already except I was you. So one day you will be me talking to you. Saying these exact same words after listening to Jason's exact same speech, glad I don't have to listen to that soppy rubbish again. Bollocks we never disappointed him," Iden said.

Ianto found that if he called his older self Iden in his head it made the experience a bit less weird, like talking to a long lost twin instead of himself. He turned his head again and kept it turned this time.

"I want to ask so many questions that I know I can't get the answers too. Number one being, why the hell would you, would I decide to let Jason have control?" Ianto said.

Iden shook his head and smiled. Ianto noticed the scar on his cheek. Great now he wanted to know how he got that.

"You will figure it out eventually," Iden said, "Anyway, come to the mansion around 5 we are having a party. Aria loves parties, and pink."

Ianto laughed, "I figured out the pink thing already."

"Alright, well I have tons of advice for you but none I can actually tell you, I will see you tonight briefly," Iden said then he got up and left out of the dining room.

Jason sat down in the chair Iden had just vacated.

"You could have warned me," Ianto said to him as Tink sat on his other side. They were the only people left in the dining room now.

"Sorry," Tink said, "I knew you would be upset about Jason taking control."

Ianto looked at her to gage if she was serious. She wasn't.

"Ha ha very funny," Ianto said aggravated then he sighed, "I am going to miss you."

She smiled, "I know," she chirped then kissed his cheek.

TW-TW-TW  
Ianto left the Victorian house after eating lunch with Jason and Tink. Jason was going to be driving her to the airport.

As if planned, the moment he got in to his car his mobile rang.

"Ianto Jones," he said into the phone. He hadn't even checked to see who it was.

"I never tire of hearing that name," came Jack's voice as a reply.

Ianto sighed. "Is the world ending sir," he asked.

Jack chuckled but it sounded forced. "Mine seems to have as of last week," Jack said softly.

Ianto bit his lip as he felt fresh tears starting to burn behind his eyelids. "Sir, I really can't talk right now. I will see you tomorrow," he said then hung up.

He placed the phone in the passenger's seat and then leaned against the steering wheel to let the all too familiar tears fall again.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto arrived at Jason's house at 4:55, trying to make up for the 5 minutes he was late to this morning's meeting. Jack hadn't tried to call again, for which Ianto was both relived and sad.

He parked in front of the overbearing house and walked to the door. Jason opened it before he could knock. Ianto found himself pulled over the threshold and pushed against the wall. Then Jason's lips crashed against his. He was too shocked to move.

Jason deepened the kiss and Ianto felt himself summit to it. It had been a week since his last encounter with Jack and he was having withdraws. Ianto put his hand on the small of Jason's back and pulled him closer, Jason growled and grinded up against him.

"Well this is awkward," said a voice in the doorway, "and I knew it was going to happen, still shocking though."

Ianto and Jason both turned their heads towards the door to see Iden Miller standing there with a bag of groceries, Jason back away from Ianto.

"Sorry," Jason said smoothing out Ianto's t-shirt that he had opted to ware instead of his usual suit.  
Ianto narrowed his eyes, this wasn't something Jason would usually apologize for, and then he realized Jason was talking to Iden not him. Well him but not present him future him. Ianto felt another headache coming on.

Iden shrugged and walked into the house closing the door behind him he then quickly retreated down the hall towards the kitchen.

"Stay with me tonight," Jason said turning his attention back to the younger Ianto.

Ianto knew he should say no, but he really wanted the release from reality that he knew Jason could give him.

"Okay, but it's a one-time thing," he said finally.

Jason nodded.

The party went really well, Ianto's older self-had been right his run in with him at the entrance of the mansion had been the brief encounter and he hadn't seen him again. He had seen Aria though, and that had been just a bit awkward, but not too much.

It was nearly midnight when Jason found him and leaned in close to whisper in his ear, "My room five minutes."

Ianto had just nodded.

TW-TW-TW  
Ianto awoke the next morning naked in Jason's four poster king bed. His whole body ached.

He felt a hand sliding up and down his back softly and turned to see Jason.

"What time are you supposed to be at work," Jason asked.

"9," Ianto said still half asleep and unsure if he could move.

"Well it is 8:30," Jason said.

Ianto groaned and rolled out of bed.

"Iden left you a suit in the bathroom," Jason said as Ianto walked toward the in suite bath.

Ianto closed the bathroom door and walked to look at himself in the mirror. His body held all the signs of submitting fully to Jason. There were hickeys all down his chest, but none that couldn't be covered with his suit. His wrists had bright red lines, reminding Ianto of the rope Jason had used to bind him to the bed. He looked down at his ankles; those had the red lines too. He sighed and got in the shower, he let the hot water fall over him to relive his sore body and wash away the guilt.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto walked into the hub at 10, his second day being late he chastised himself. Gwen and Tosh were both sitting at separate computers. Owen wasn't there.

"Would you ladies like some coffee," he asked them. They both looked up and nodded. He walked past them and went to ask Jack if he wanted any.

"Sir would you like some coffee?" he said timidly.

Jack looked up. "Come in and shut the door Ianto," he demanded. Ianto thought he sounded a bit mad so he did as he was told.

"Sit," Jack said pointing to the chair opposite the desk. Ianto sat carefully hoping Jack didn't notice the slight grimace he made.

Jack got up and walked around the desk and leaned on it directly in front of Ianto. This would be a perfect position to suck his cock, Ianto thought. He looked up nervously at Jack.  
"Please forgive me," Jack said.

Ianto rolled his eyes. "We have been over this, I have forgiven you. I just don't want to have sex anymore, sir," Ianto said.

"Well, then let's make love," Jack said raising his eyebrows.

Ianto gave a small smile, "We would have to be in love for that sir," he said as he got up attempting not to touch Jack. Jack grabbed his wrist and Ianto winced. Jack let go.

"Are you scared of me again," Jack asked misreading Ianto wince.

"No," Ianto said moving towards the door. Jack grabbed him by the wrist again Ianto gasped at the slight pain. Jack narrowed his eyes. Then let go of Ianto's wrist again.

"I don't want any coffee thank you Ianto," Jack said and then shooed Ianto out of the office.

Jack and the girls left soon after that and didn't return until sometime later. Jack avoided his gaze and didn't smile at him Ianto felt his heart break again. He went and hid himself in the archives after lunch for the rest of the day and well into the night. He wasn't paying attention to time. When he finally looked at his watch he realized it was almost 1 am. His stomach rumbled. He got up and went up to the main hub. No one was there. Well Jack was probably in his bunker. Ianto walked up to the small kitchenette and found some left over pizza in the small fridge. He stood at the counter and ate it cold.

Ianto jumped when the cog door rolled open to reveal Owen, Gwen, and Jack.

"Tosh," Jack called as Ianto began to make his way down the stair, then he noticed Tosh asleep on the couch. She was slowly coming out of her deep slumber. Ianto saw a happy smile grace Jack's lips at the sight of Tosh. It faded when he turned and saw Ianto.

"Ianto, you are still here?" Jack asked.

"Yes I lost track of time in the archives," Ianto answered.

"Oh, okay go help Owen with the body of Ed Morgan. Tosh, you start coming up with a cover story and deleting the CCTV footage from in front of Bernie's flat. Gwen you come with me," Jack said in commanding captain mode.

Everyone started to go their separate way, Ianto and Owen towards the garage entrance, Tosh to her computer, Gwen and Jack heading to the med bay. "Meet in my office when you are all done. We need scotch," Jack called after them all.

TW-TW-TW

They all sat in Jack's office after their tasks were done. Ianto was in charge of pouring the scotch. Jack sat behind his desk. Gwen sat in the chair in front of Jack's desk wrapped tightly in a blanket. Owen was pacing the floor, and Tosh was leaning against the doorframe.

"He wanted to die. He would have found a way no matter what," Tosh said gently.

"I screwed up I know, but ah I didn't kill him. I could of, but I didn't," Owen said with a cracking voice.

"No I did," Gwen said her eyes staring straight ahead. Ianto knew how she felt. It is the same way he felt after he relocated Sarah Higgins. He started to hand everyone a scotch.

"Tosh is right. It could have been anyone," Jack said his tone soothing.

"What about that," Tosh asked pointing to the bent remote.

"The problem with seeing the future is you can't just sit and look at it. Gotta try and change things, make it happen differently. It's not meant for us. All these ghosts we'd be lost. Suns nearly up. Ianto." Jack said in answer to Tosh's question.

"Secure archives," Ianto assumed. He took the alien device and went over to the secure archives that resided in Jack's office and began to open it.

"Come on," Jack said to Gwen and the two left the office.

Tosh smiled softly at Ianto and then too left the office. Only Owen stayed. Ianto continued on with his task as if the doctor wasn't watching him intently.

"What are those marks on your wrists Ianto," Owen asked. Ianto turned and looked at him. The doctor must have seen them when they were moving Ed Morgan's body.

Ianto stared at Owen for a long moment then said, "What do you think, Owen."

"I think you are showing signs of destructive behavior, and it makes me wonder if you are keeping your promise and taking your meds," Owen said coldly.

Ianto bit his lip. "It wasn't destructive behavior, we used protection, I had a safe word everything was fine! And if its destructive behavior then you should probably lock me up because I have participated in that behavior since I was 17!" he yelled at Owen tears were burning his eyes though. It was humiliating to admit something so personal to Owen.

"Was it with Jack?" Owen asked.

"No, not that it is any of your business," Ianto said.

"Your right, none of my business, sorry I was just concerned about you. Do you want me to check you over anyway; just to be sure you are okay?" Owen said his voice calm and gentle.

"No because I am okay," Ianto said and then walked out of the office.

"Take your meds," Owen called to him as he went through the cog door.


	18. Chapter 18

AN: Chapter 18. First part of Cyber woman. Yay, hopefully I will get the second part done today as well. Not sure because I don't feel too hot. I have an ear infection. I know I thought only babies got those too. Anyways, I got a lot of reviews for the last chapter. Thanks everyone who did review! I have over 20 reviews on FanFiction now. (How cool is that?) I love reviews they keep me motivated.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

Spoilers: Cyberwoman, Torchwood novels: Another Life, Border Princes, and slow decay. (barely)

Warnings: curse words, mentions of sex, Ianto crying L

Ianto arrived at his flat and sat down heavily on his couch. The last three weeks had been hell for him and the other members of Torchwood. They had dealt with many things. An alien parasite that made people lose weight with the unpleasant side effect of turning them into cannibals, a device that projected emotion, and an alien that possessed people and made them crave human spinal fluid. They also found the alien equivalent to Sudoku, which caused Owen and Ianto to have a proper throw down, and finally a giant metal soldier. Of it all the most peculiar things that happened to Ianto was the fact that he kept making six cups of coffee instead of just five.

Ianto's wait was finally over though. Tomorrow was Thursday, the team would go out to the pub per usual and Dr. Tanizaki would come into Torchwood and help Lisa. The doctor had arrived earlier this evening and Ianto had just finished dropping him off at the hotel.

Ianto had enough money saved up so the Doctor could stay in the hotel for up to two months. Ianto hoped it didn't take longer than that to heal Lisa because if it did he would have to borrow money from Jason and that wasn't something he wanted to do because the man was already paying his rent and had bought him his car, not that Ianto hadn't tried to pay Jason back the man refused to accept any money though, saying that guardians were supposed to take care of their charges. If Ianto wasn't planning on leaving soon he would have already found a different flat just so he could pay for it himself.

Ianto let out a sigh and then got up off the couch to get ready for bed. Only once he was safely under the duvet on his bed did he let his mask slip off and fall to the ground. His personal life couldn't be in worse shape. His girlfriend was trapped in metal casting, and Jason was even more persistent ever since Ianto had made the mistake to sleep with him. Jack was now pretending that he had moved on though Ianto knew it wasn't true because every time the man touched him Ianto felt sadness run through his body. Plus every time the Jack would address Ianto he would be casually perched up against, sitting on, or standing near a place where the two had shagged. Not that there were many places in the hub they hadn't shagged. At least the man was drinking his coffee again.

TW-TW-TW

As Ianto descended in the elevator on his way to the main hub he straightened his tie and his mask at the same time. He had spent most of the day cleaning the tourist office from top to bottom because for some reason he wanted Dr. Tanizaki's first impression of Torchwood Cardiff to be a good one.

The team was playing their usual game of basketball before heading to the pub. Ianto listened quietly as they yelled happily to each other obviously having fun. Ianto wondered when the last time he had genuine fun was, then recalled his and Jack's trip to the cinema that had been fun. He was still lost in thought when Jack tossed him the basketball and the team made their way out of the cog door. Ianto tried not to feel hurt that Jack didn't even make eye contact with him and that no one had asked if he wanted to join them.

As soon as they were gone Ianto deposited the basketball into the rec room and sent an all clear text to Dr. Tanizaki.

Once he had received an Okay in return Ianto took a quick look around the hub. It was a mess. Oh well, nothing to be done about it now, he thought. He noticed a remote control on Owen's desk and realized it belonged in the boardroom. He picked it up and shook his head. Why had Owen brought it down here? Once he was in the boardroom he remembered that he needed to order dinner so he dialed Jubilee pizza.

"Jubilee Pizza," answered a woman's voice.

"Hello, Ianto Jones, I need to place my usual order, only can you make it two pepperoni feasts tonight, and a tub of coleslaw. My boss say's I am not getting enough vegetables," Ianto said.

Jack had indeed said Ianto needed more vegetables. Ianto could hear the American accent in his head. 'Ianto you look pale are you eating enough vegetables?' Ianto knew what the man really meant was, 'Ianto you look like shit; admit this is ridiculous and jump back into my arms.'

Dr. Tanizaki entered the hub just as Ianto finished his pizza order. The Welshman rushed down the stairs to meet the doctor.

"Good to see you again Sir, are they looking after you in the hotel?" Ianto said and then greeted the man in Japanese.

The doctor only nodded. Ianto took the man's briefcase and both men headed towards Lisa's room.

Once they reached Lisa's door Ianto felt his nerves floating up his stomach. Everything he had done to help Lisa came down to this doctor.

"I did everything I could, I really did," Ianto said more for his benefit than the Doctors. Then he opened the door.

The doctor seemed amazed by what he saw, excited even. He made Ianto feel sick the way he talked about Lisa as if she was and object instead of a human. The doctor then asked Ianto how Lisa had become part Cyberman. So Ianto told him about Canary Wharf and how he had pulled her out after she had been half way converted.

It had taken all his strength to pull her across the room as he yelled for help, the hot metal that was her new skin burning him through his suit. When he realized that no one could hear his cries of distress he had gently placed her on the floor and went it search for help, that's when he saw the unit solider execute a half-converted co-worker.

Ianto's thought came back to the present as Dr. Tanizaki started to ramble about percentages while inappropriately touching Lisa's body.

"Can you make her human again," Ianto demanded having had enough of the Doctor groping his girlfriend.

The doctor looked slightly taken aback. "You took parts from a cyber-conversion unit and modified them in to a life support for her. How did you know what to do," the doctor inquired.

"I told him," came Lisa's voice.

Ianto felt panic go through him he thought she was asleep. He hoped she hadn't felt when Dr. Tanizaki had touched her.

"I thought you were resting. You should be resting. How's the pain? Are the new doses working?" Ianto said to Lisa aware that he was codling her.

"A little," Lisa answered and then flinched.

Ianto felt a pang of pain in his heart for her.

"Is this him," Lisa asked her voice barely a whisper.

"I promised didn't I," Ianto said softly to her.

"And you always keep your promises" Lisa said softly back. Ianto nodded.

The doctor asked Lisa a few questions then Ianto sedated her so they could take her up stairs to the medical bay so Dr. Tanizaki could start her healing process.

Once they were in the medical bay Dr. Tanizaki explained to Ianto that he was going to attempt to get Lisa to breathe without a respirator. Ianto was concerned she wouldn't be ready for such a step and the long unending beep that came soon after Dr. Tanizaki unhooked Lisa seemed to prove him right.

"She's not strong enough," Ianto yelled at the doctor pushing him out of the way panic rushing through his veins.

"Let me do my work," the doctor yelled back effectively pushing Ianto away and making a few adjustments. Once he was finished he moved out of the way so Ianto could stand by Lisa. The beep dragged on.

"If she dies because of you…" Ianto began but stopped when the long beep turned to short beeps again. Lisa was breathing.

She coughed a bit as she awoke. "Ianto," Lisa said confusion in her voice.

"Yes, I'm here," Ianto said to Lisa then turned to Dr. Tanizaki and said, "She's breathing, it worked."

"Why aren't I connected," Lisa said sounding even more confused than before.

"You're alive, he kept you alive," Ianto said as pure joy rushed through him.

"Thank you," Lisa said to the doctor.

"This is only the start," Dr. Tanizaki said back.

Then another beeping began to sound. The rest of the Torchwood team was on their way back.

"We've gotta move, quickly!" Ianto yelled.

TW-TW-TW

By some miracle Ianto was able to get Lisa and Dr. Tanizaki into Lisa's room and then make it back up to the hub before the others noticed anything. He tried to look casual as he walked by Gwen as she spoke on the phone. Not really sure of where he was heading. He was filled with joy, but it was short lasting.

"Ianto," Jack called to him. Ianto turned to see the man leaning casually against his desk on the same spot that they first had sex. Ianto felt a pang of sadness; he was going to miss Jack so much.

"Would you work some coffee magic," Jack begged. Ianto nodded and gave a small smile.

Ianto went up the stairs to the coffee maker. As he was getting the mugs ready the lights began to flicker. Ianto felt his heart stopped momentarily.

"What's happening?" Gwen asked.

"Internal power drain," Tosh answered. Ianto stared at the coffeemaker trying to come up with a plan. He knew what the cause of the power drain was.

"What's causing it," Gwen said.

"Something big to drain that amount of power, Tosh run a system diagnostic," Jack said.

Ianto knew he had to prevent her from doing that so he used the first flimsy excuse that came to his head, "Actually we've been having generator problems all evening. I was down there checking earlier, couple bits of cabling come loose, I thought I'd fixed it. Let me have another look."

Everyone gave him skeptical glances and Jack crossed his arms over his chest. Ianto knew that if Jason was here to witness this he would have been disappointed.

"Fine go check," Jack said not looking convinced by the story.

"Need some help," Gwen asked as Ianto made his way towards the basement.

"I'm fine," he yelled back to her. He was pretty sure that was the first time anyone had ever asked to help him.

Ianto raced down the corridors until he reached Lisa's room. Once there he slammed through the door. It was as he feared. The conversion unit had been activated.

"We've got to shut down the power," Ianto yelled as he ran to the power button. He switched it off and turned to look at Lisa. Then he noticed the body of Dr. Tanizaki on the ground.

"Oh god, oh my god," Ianto said as he knelt next to the doctor. The man's face was now part metal part flesh.

"What happened," Ianto said looking up at Lisa.

"His upgrade failed," she said her voice sounded cold and inhuman.

"Was it an accident?" Ianto asked then he realized the truth but he couldn't face it. "Tell me you didn't do this," He said to Lisa.

"I wanted to repay him for helping me by removing the weaknesses of his humanity," She said.

Ianto felt bile rise in his throat. "What have you done, you've killed an innocent man," he demanded standing up and facing her.

"It's alright," Lisa said.

"It's not alright," Ianto said twisting her around, he pointed towards the door, "they're gunna come looking for me in a minute. If they see the body, if they find out what we've been doing…"

"I can deal with them," Lisa said calmly.

Ianto felt fear and anger rise up in him, "Don't you go near them," he yelled at her pointing a finger in her face. He took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair as he paced. "You didn't mean to do this, something's happened to your mind, umm just ah some kind of side effect from the whole process, its post traumatic, you didn't mean," he ranted then turned to look at her. "You've ruined everything now!" Ianto yelled as he pushed Lisa. He ran his fingers through his hair again and then put his hands on either side of her face. "How hard have we had to work to keep you alive, and now you do this," he said his voice sad. Lisa's eyes softened. "I need you to stay here," he said releasing her face, "rest, don't come out unless I tell you. This can't happen again Lisa," he was now pointing at her, "If you harm anyone else, I'll…"

"Yes, what will you do," Lisa said her voice robotic.

Ianto didn't have an answer to that question. So he ignored it. "The body I gotta deal with the body, I can do this," he said to himself, but he broke down when he looked at the body again, "This is my fault, I'm responsible for this," he sobbed. Then he picked the body up under the arms and began to drag it out of the room, "I'll hide the body. Everything is going to be okay," he said to Lisa as he left.

Ianto locked Lisa's door then dragged the body down the hallway. He could still see Lisa's door when she activated the conversion unit again. He sobbed and continued down the hall.

Barely a minute later Jack's voice came over his comm. "Ianto we have another dose of darkness, find anything?" Ianto didn't answer him; a few seconds later Jack tried again, "Ianto I need to hear those beautiful Welsh vowels." Ianto remained silent.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto pulled Dr. Tanizaki's body into an old cell and placed it down. "I'm sorry," he sobbed as he covered the man with a blanket.

Ianto made his way back towards Lisa's room and was horrified to find Jack pointing his gun at Lisa. Ianto smashed into the man to prevent him from shooting Lisa.

"She doesn't know what she's doing," Ianto cried surprised that he had pinned Jack to the wall.

Jack pushed him against the opposite wall, "You are fighting the wrong guy," Jack yelled.

Gwen's frantic voice pulled both men out of their fight, "Get me out of here someone quick please!"

Ianto was horrified to see Gwen in the conversion unit. "What did she do!" he yelled as he forgot Jack and ran to the controls. He pushed the off button but it wouldn't work.

"Switch it off," Gwen said her voice panicky.

"I'm trying she's changed the circuits," Ianto yelled taking a step back to think. He looked over to Jack, "Shut off the power, everywhere," he yelled at him.

"Toshiko cut all the power in the base," Jack yelled in to his comms. Ianto didn't hear the reply. "Just do it!" Jack yelled into his comms again. A few seconds later the power went out and the red emergency lights came on. The conversion unit thankfully shut down. "Gwen," Jack said.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, sort of," Gwen said not sounding fine at all, "Jack please get me out of here," she begged.

"It's alright," Jack said not sounding reassuring in the slightest.

"Where is she, where did she go, please tell me you got her?" Gwen said.

Jack looked up at Ianto. His eyes gave away nothing. It was everything Ianto could do not to fall at the man's feet and beg for mercy.

"Stand guard by the door," Jack said firmly.

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," Ianto said to Gwen.

"What for," She asked but Ianto didn't answer he just went to stand by the door.

"Let's get out of here," Jack said to Gwen pushing a few buttons on his wrist strap.

Ianto tried not to panic as he, Jack who was carrying a knocked out Owen, and Gwen made their way to the main hub. He knew Jack had already put together that this was his fault and he was going to have to tell Jack everything. There would be no forgiveness for this of that Ianto was sure. He didn't want to give up on Lisa though. Surely this could be undone.

"Clear," Jack said as Ianto stopped at a hall way and shined his light in each direction.

"Clear," Ianto answered they continued to the next hall.

Lisa walked into their path of light. "Oh god, there she is. What is she?" Gwen babbled.

Ianto didn't pay attention to Jack's answer he just tried to sense Lisa as he could do with other rift children. His heart broke when he couldn't feel her. That special rush that was uniquely hers was gone. "She's gone," he said out loud as she walked away.

Ianto heard the click of Jack's gun and felt the cold metal being pressed into his head. "Get up back to the hub," Jack demanded.

"Jack what are you doing," Gwen screeched.

"Resisting the urge to shoot," Jack said coldly.

All the way back to the hub Ianto tried to justify why he hadn't been able to feel Lisa, maybe she had been too far away he thought. Maybe whatever affected her brain was now affecting the rift energy inside her. By the time they reached the hub Ianto had convinced himself that there was still a chance to save her.

"Tosh, get everything from the weapon's room as fast as you can," Jack yelled as they walked into the main hub. Ianto had his mask firmly in place again.

"It's locked down, there's no manual override," Tosh said.

"Just open the door!" Jack snapped then turned his attention to Ianto, "On your knees hands over your head."

Ianto did as he was told. "Jack for god's sake what are you doing," Tosh said obviously upset about seeing Jack point a gun at her friend.

"Tosh, I gave you an order, Gwen help her," Jack yelled. "Did you know that thing was down there," Jack asked Ianto calmly.

"I put her there," Ianto said his words and facial expression showing no emotion.

Jack pulled Ianto's head to the side by his hair and pressed the gun against it. "You hide a cyberman within Torchwood, and you didn't tell us! What else are you keeping from us?" Jack yelled then took a step back still point the gun at Ianto.

Ianto felt his mask begin to slip, "Like you care. I clean up your shit. No question's asked and that's the way you like it. When did you last ask me anything about my life?" Ianto said knowing it was a low blow because he was aware that Jack cared or he had in any case. Jack lowered the gun. "Her name is Lisa, she's my girlfriend," Ianto continued.

"Why didn't you tell us we could have helped you," Gwen said with all her naivety.

Ianto couldn't believe he had to explain this to her but he did. "Torchwood exists to destroy alien threats. Why would I tell you about her?" He said his voice cracking at some unknown point his mask had fallen.

"A little loyalty perhaps," Owen said having woken up from being knocked out by Lisa.

"My loyalties to her," Ianto sobbed remembering he had been happy not one hour ago. "She worked for Torchwood. She was caught up in battle, I owe it to Lisa, we owe it to her to find a cure," he said.

"Ianto you have to believe me there is no cure," Jack said Ianto looked up at him trying and failing to hold in more tears. "There never will be. Those who are converted stay that way. Your girlfriend will not be the exception!"

Ianto refused to believe, "You can't know that for sure."

Jack sighed, "Look you need to know what is happening here cause this is where these things start. Small decisions that become mass slaughter. These creatures regain a foothold by exploiting human weakness. Then they take a base rebuild their forces. Before you know it the cyber race is spreading out across the universe, erasing worlds, assimilating populations. All because of the tiny beginnings here." Ianto felt guilt rush through him. Jack was right if Lisa got out the way she was now Dr. Tanizaki's blood wouldn't be the only blood on his hands. Jack continued speaking, "We need to stop her together!"

Ianto wanted to help her though. There had to be a way. "You're not listening to me! The conversion was never completed!" Ianto said finding the courage to stand up.

"She already tried to kill Gwen do you think she's gunna stop there. There's no turning back for her now!" Jack yelled.

"I'm not giving up on her, I love her. Can you understand that Jack. Haven't you ever loved anyone?" Ianto said trying not to sob. He knew it was another low blow. He knew that Jack loved him he had felt the emotion come from Jack so clearly on multiple occasions.

Jack got closer to Ianto, leaned in close, and whispered, "You need to figure out whose side you're on here, cause if you don't know, you're not going to make it out alive." He then turned his attention away from Ianto.

"There's no way this weapon's door is going to open," Owen said sounding groggy.

"It's going to take 6 hours for the power to come back online," Tosh said.

Ianto looked at the team they all looked defeated. He decided to give it one more go to get them on his side. "Let me talk to her, I can still save her, save all of us, she's not a monster."

As if called by the word 'monster' Lisa walked in to the room. Ianto headed towards her.

"Ianto," Gwen yelled. Then Ianto heard Jack shh her.

"Lisa it's me," Ianto said.

"You can't just let him go…" Gwen began to complain but stopped when Lisa talked.

"The army will be rebuilt from here. This building is suitable," Lisa said her robotic voice cold.

"Who are you?" Jack asked. Ianto looked over at him.

"Human .2" Lisa answered.

"No, Lisa," Ianto cried.

"How come you look like human .1" Jack said his voice mocking. Ianto felt an urge to hit him.

"I do not understand," Lisa said.

"Look at yourself, go ahead," Jack said.

Lisa looked at her reflection in the glass pane in front of a fire extinguisher. "Remember Lisa, remember who you are," Ianto said hopefully.

"The upgrade is incomplete," Lisa said.

"You're still human," Ianto told her.

"I am disgusting, I am wrong," Lisa said.

"We can help you," Ianto said walking closer to her.

"I must start again, upgrade properly," Lisa decided as if she couldn't hear Ianto.

Ianto lost his cool. "For god's sake, have you heard yourself? Lisa, please I brought you here to heal you. So we could be together," he said new tears falling.

"Together, yes, transplant my brain into your body. The two of us together, fused. We'll be one complete person. Isn't that what love is?" Lisa said.

Ianto was openly crying now. "No," he answered.

"Then we are not compatible," she said as she picked him up by the neck and threw him across the room where he landed and fell into darkness


	19. Chapter 19

AN: There is smut in the chapter. Probably my best smut yet if I do say so myself. Umm… lf you don't want to read I marked the start with *(smut) and the end with (end smut). Anyway, hope you like it.

Disclaimers: I don't own Torchwood.

Spoilers: Cyberwoman

Warnings: Smut. M/M slight toy play, little dominance, oh and crying Ianto again L

Ianto awoke with a start. Jack was the first thing he saw. He could taste Jack, smell Jack, and feel Jack. Jack held his fingers to his lips to keep Ianto quiet.

"It's going to be okay," Jack whispered. What was? Ianto wondered. Jack lightly kissed Ianto's lips then pulled back. Ianto leaned up to capture Jack's lips again and almost succeeded but a robotic scream echoing through the hub forced Ianto's muddled brain back into reality. He remembered where he was and what he was trying to accomplish. Ianto needed to save Lisa. He pushed Jack away and headed toward the distressed scream.

Ianto scrambled down the medical bay stairs to find Lisa. She looked dead the end of a scalpel protruding from just below her heart. He knelt beside her. Ianto looked back to see Gwen and Owen standing in front of the autopsy table.

"It was killed or be killed," Owen said sounding breathless.

Ianto looked back at Lisa unable to form words.

"Owen's right, there was no choice," Gwen said.

Ianto didn't acknowledge her. Suddenly Lisa's eyes opened and he gasped and jumped back in surprise. Gwen grabbed him and pushed him towards the stairs.

"Ianto move, get out, get out I said, move move!" Gwen yelled at him continuing to push him up the stairs and out of the medical bay. Ianto had no choice but to obey his mind still foggy from being knocked out.

Ianto followed behind Owen until they came upon Jack near the invisible lift.

"You should be dead," Owen said to Jack.

"I'm the stubborn type," Jack replied readying Suzie's old blowtorch. "Get behind me," Jack yelled at Owen, Gwen, and Ianto as Lisa began to walk up to them. Ianto felt himself being pulled towards the invisible lift by Gwen and Owen.

Jack turned on the blowtorch and held it up, Lisa stopped walking towards them. "That's right stay back, this will at least give you heartburn," Jack said to her.

"The power will run out. I can wait," Lisa said.

Ianto regained his ability to speak, "Jack help her, give her a chance to surrender."

"Have you not seen what she's done," Owen spat.

"Let her stay in the cells we have to reverse the process," Ianto begged.

"I've told you we're past that," Jack yelled back at him. "Hold him back," Jack demanded to Owen and Gwen.

"What are you going to do," Gwen asked as she and Owen wrestled a struggling Ianto closer to the invisible lift.

"Don't ask question's just get him on there and hold him," Jack yelled.

Ianto felt himself pulled onto the invisible lift. Gwen and Owen both were holding him. There was a way to get out of their grips he knew it but in his panic he couldn't think. If Jason could see him he was sure the man would insist on restarting his training.

Jack grabbed the bottle of barbeque sauce they used to train the pterodactyl Ianto couldn't understand why he had that, and then began to struggle a bit harder when Jack squirted Lisa with the sauce.

"What is that stuff," Gwen called.

"It's a kind of barbeque sauce, helps it identify its food," Jack answered.

"Helps what identify its food?" Gwen asked. Ianto already knew though and he stopped struggling in shock.

"I'm sorry," Jack said to Ianto as he got onto the invisible lift and pressed a few buttons on his wrist strap. Ianto couldn't believe what Jack was about to do, it was barbaric.

"Come on Tosh hurry up," Jack said looking at his wrist strap. Ianto heard the pterodactyl screech. Jack had opened it cage door it was flying their way.

"You'll kill her," Ianto said. He began to fight harder. He tried to think how he could get out of Owen and Gwen's grip. "Let me go, let me help her," he yelled.

"Hold him still," Jack demanded as the lift began to ascend.

"No!" Ianto yelled. "Call it off her, you can do that!" Ianto screamed at Jack. The man remained quiet. "Have some fucking mercy," Ianto yell as he watched Lisa being attacked by the prehistoric bird. "No," he cried openly sobbing as the invisible lift rose out of the hub.

Tosh was running towards them. "Ha, it worked," she yelled happily. "What happened?"

"Don't," Jack said.

Ianto turned to look at the man. The love he once had for him seemed to be replaced with pure hate. With all the strength he had he punched Jack making the man fall over. For that Jason would surely be proud. Gwen pushed him away from Jack.

"You could have saved her," Ianto yelled at Jack over Gwen's shoulder, "You're worse than anything locked up down there. One day I'll have the chance to save you and I'll watch you suffer and die." Ianto knew that was a ridiculous thing to say to a man who couldn't die but he didn't care the grief was too much for him to think clearly.

"It was the only thing that would stop her!" Jack yell lunging toward Ianto, Owen cut him off.

Ianto turned away from them all distance himself from all of them as his tears continued to fall.

"Listen when I was at reception I managed to trick the lock down timer. The power should be coming back on any second we can get back in," Tosh said. Ianto was running towards the tourist office before she finished her sentence. Not caring that the team was yelling his name.

As soon as he got into the office he pulled his gun out from under the counter and opened the door to the hub he ran towards it as the team ran in and he turned to aim the gun at them all.

"Ianto, don't be stupid," Gwen said holding up her hands.

"I have nothing left to lose," Ianto said believing at that moment that it was true.

"There's always something left to lose," Jack said. Ianto noticed for the first time that Jack was very pale. He must have died, Ianto thought. He also noticed desperation in the man's eyes.

"I'm going back in there, anybody tries to stop me, I'll shoot them," Ianto said trying to sound serious.

"Ianto put the gun…" Gwen began but stopped when Jack knocked the gun out of Ianto's hands and pushed him face first in to the wall. For the second time that night Ianto felt to cold metal of Jack's gun.

"You make a threat like that you better be prepared to follow through. See you disobey me now, I really will shoot you," Jack said harshly.

"Get off me," Ianto yelled. He could feel Jack's anger rushing through him making his own anger stronger.

Jack chuckled at Ianto's request. "You wanna go back in there. You go in to finish the job. If she's still alive, you execute her," Jack said his voice mean. He backed off Ianto and the Welshman turned around to face him.

"No way," Ianto said half sobbing.

"You brought this down on us. You hid her. You hid yourself from us. Now it's time for you to stand as part of the team," Jack said keeping his gun pointed at Ianto.

"Jack," Gwen said but Ianto and Jack ignored her.

"The girl you loved has gone. Your loyalty is to us now," Jack continued.

"You can't order me to do that," Ianto said with defiance.

"You execute her or I'll execute you both," Jack spit out his anger at the situation clear.

"I won't do it, you can't make me. You like to think you're a hero but you're the biggest monster of them all," Ianto said his voice surprisingly steady.

"I'm giving you ten minutes then we're coming in," Jack warned then used his gun to point at Ianto's on the floor, "pick it up!"

Ianto bent down and retrieved the gun then turned and ran down the emergency stairs and into the hub.

When he got there he didn't see Lisa only her blood, then he noticed two pizza boxes. He felt a new fear rise in him as the lights flickered. He ran to Lisa's room.

Ianto busted through the door to find Lisa already dead on the floor. He knelt down next to her body and put her head in his lap her blood covering his hands he sobbed uncontrollably on the floor. Not caring if anyone heard.

"Ianto," said a girl's voice. Ianto drew his gun and pointed at her. It was Annie the pizza delivery girl but her forehead had a large scar across it. She walked towards him. "Ianto, it's me, it's Lisa, I'm human again. You fought so hard for me I had to hold on for you. So I took this body and transplanted the brain."

"You're not Lisa," Ianto sobbed, his Lisa would never murder an innocent girl. This monster was not Lisa.

"You always said you didn't love me for what I looked like," the monster said, "Last time you said that it was a Saturday. We were hung-over. You made cheese toasties and moaned I hadn't descaled my kettle. That night we camped on a beach in Brittany. It got so freezing we wore out coats and shared one sleeping bag. When we woke up the next morning a dog was pissing on our tent."

Ianto sobbed as he remembered that time. A time when he was happy before his perfect world in London went to shit.

"Hold me Ianto, I need you to hold me, I need you to tell me it's alright," she said desperately. Ianto wanted to believe she was his Lisa. He embraced her in a hug and tried once again to sense Lisa's rush again. The feeling he used to wake up too. She was his everything, never demanding anything from him, always faithful, always understanding, and always his equal. He couldn't feel it, Lisa was gone.

Ianto backed away from the monster and cocked his gun. "What are you doing," the monster said, "Ianto it's me. You wouldn't shoot me. I did this for you."

"I'm sorry," Ianto said talking to the Lisa that couldn't hear him anymore. "I'm sorry," he repeated for Annie the pizza girl. "Lisa," he cried dropping his arm in his grief as he backed away from the monster.

"We can be upgraded together," It said.

A gun went off and hit it in the stomach, and then more sounded all going into the monsters stomach until it fell against the conversion unit dead. Ianto let out a sob in surprise; he turned to the door and saw the rest of the team. Owen's face was indifferent, Tosh's was genuinely sad, Gwen's was turned away, and Jack stared at him straight on anger clear in his expression. Ianto went and stood between the bodies of Lisa and Annie then fell to his knees as sobs overtook him once again.

It was awhile later when Ianto felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Owen's eyes staring softly at him. "Come on mate, let's go get you cleaned up," Owen whispered. Ianto nodded at him.

Ianto felt another hand lay on his shoulder and turn his head and met the face of Gwen. Her face held pity and it made him sick. He pulled away from her touch and then for reasons unknown to him rested his head on Owen's shoulder and let more sobs leave his body. Owen stiffened then wrapped his arm around Ianto's back and pulled him close.

"Okay, come on lets go, up you get," Owen said pulling Ianto to his feet. Owen released his grip. "Come on medical bay and then a shower, that's what you need," Owen continued then pulled Ianto towards the door.

Ianto went with him without struggling. Keeping his eyes diverted from Jack as they passed him.

Once in the medical bay Ianto let Owen wash the blood of his hands and stared straight ahead. Owen allowed silence. Ianto was thankful. When Ianto's hands were clear of blood and Owen had checked all his injuries, and then sent him to the shower.

Ianto spent a long time in the shower switching between crying and actually cleaning himself. He took equally as long getting dressed. By the time he was done his mask was back in place. He went back to the main hub. No one was there so he snuck up to the tourist center he had left his phone in there.

When Ianto got there he found that his phone had been taken. He sighed, he had expected that. He tried to log in to mainframe for curiosity's sake. His password didn't work. He then looked into the basket where he kept his keys, they were gone to. He was tempted to panic. He went to the tourist entrance. Only to find the door locked on the outside. He was a prisoner.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto made his way back to the main hub keeping his mask in place. On the inside he was panicking. Were they going to lock him in a cell, were they ever going to let him go? He went through the cog door and looked up to see Jack staring down at him from the boardroom. The man nodded at him, Ianto nodded back, then took a deep breath and decided to clean the hub while he waited to learn his fate.

Owen and Tosh came through the cog door almost thirty minutes later. Ianto was sitting on the ratty couch the hub perfectly clean again. Owen went straight up to the boardroom; he was holding a large box. Tosh went to her computer station and connected her lab top to it. She typed a bit then printed something. She grabbed the papers from the printer then followed Owen to the boardroom. Neither of them had spoken to Ianto.

Ianto could only imagine what was in the box Owen had and what was written on the papers Tosh had printed. Ten minutes after they had gone into the boardroom Jack came down the stairs. "What happened to Dr. Tanizaki?" he asked coming to a stop in front of Ianto.

Ianto had all but forgotten about the Doctor. "It killed him, I hid his body in cell block F," Ianto said not looking up at Jack. Jack didn't say anything else he just made his way back up to the boardroom.

Ianto was beginning to get bored he wondered if they would notice if he slipped off to the archives. He decided to give it a shot. He was half way to the hall that led to the archives when Jack came out of the boardroom. Ianto looked up at him.

"Sit," Jack demanded pointing to the couch. Ianto went back to the couch. "Stay," Jack said then turned to return to the boardroom.

"I'm not a bloody dog," Ianto said under his breath.

Jack looked back at him. "I am aware of that, but you are my prisoner for the time being," he said then went in to the boardroom.

It was 30 boring minutes later that Gwen and Owen came out of the boardroom. Gwen headed to the cog door and Owen headed towards Ianto.

"I am putting you on suicide watch for a while," Owen said as he sat down next to Ianto.

"Is that what they call holding someone prisoner now days?" Ianto asked.

"You are lucky you're not in a cell next to a weevil," Owen spat.

Ianto sighed. "How long is 'for a while'?" he asked.

Owen just shrugged. "Go see Jack and Tosh in the boardroom," he said patting Ianto's knee and getting up. "Oh and Tea-boy, don't sleep with Jack tonight." With that he walked away.

"As if I would," Ianto whispered then headed up to the boardroom.

Ianto went in to the room and sat in his normal chair next to Jack. Tosh was sitting across from him.

"It seems you changed your records before you started at Torchwood London," Jack said. Ianto nodded. Leave it to Tosh to find his hidden records.

"Teenaged runaway, lived in a foster home, spent a month in a mental institution… so many interesting things. What I don't understand is why you hid those things?" Jack said flipping through the papers.

"They aren't things I was proud of," Ianto said simply.

Jack narrowed his eyes then nodded. "I can accept that," he said then switched around some more papers.

Jack looked at Tosh. "Alright Tosh, you can go."

Tosh bit he lip, "but Owen…" she began.

Jack cut her off, "Owen is not the boss!"

Tosh nodded and then left not even looking at Ianto.

Jack frowned then got up and went to the end of the table to peer inside the box Owen had brought in. He looked up and smiled at Ianto. "You've got a lot of fun stuff here," he exclaimed. "Let's see, this little thing," he held up the small blue stone that interfered with hidden listening devices. "Owen found this in your car, do you know what is does?"

"Prevents my private conversations from being picked up by bugs," Ianto said.

Jack smiled, "Did you think we bugged your car?" he asked.

Ianto just shrugged. Jack didn't confirm nor deny it.

Jack then began to pull out Ianto's entire alien tech collection that had been hidden in his car and flat. He had stolen it all from Torchwood London. Ianto was sure they had found everything. The last thing Jack pulled from the box was Ianto's favorite handgun. It was enhanced with a silencer that didn't take away from the guns sleek appearance.

"Whatcha need this for Yanni?" Jack asked.

"Don't call me Yanni," Ianto snapped. Why did people think he liked that?

"Answer the question," Jack said.

"I don't know sir, I work for Torchwood, I am a bit paranoid," Ianto said.

Jack sighed and began placing all the items back into the box, "You will be confined to the hub while on suicide watch and probably after that as well. You may continue to work in the archives and the main hub. You will not be allowed in the tourist center. You will not be given access to mainframe. You will be monitored at all times. Do you understand?"

"Nope," Ianto said just to be a smartass.

Jack narrowed his eyes. "You will do as you are told or you will lose this job," Jack warned.

"I don't want this job," Ianto said.

"Fine, I am sure UNIT has a nice 6x6 cell just waiting for you," Jack said with a fake smile.

Ianto frowned. UNIT would show him no mercy. "You won't keep me forever. The first chance I get I will run and never look back," Ianto said.

Jack didn't say anything. He just left the room. Ianto got up and watched through the window as the man went to his office. Three minutes later the man emerged holding a pair of handcuffs and a silver bracelet.

Ianto didn't want to know what it did. He made a run for it. He made it to the second landing of the emergency stairs before Jack caught him. Ianto landed on his back. Jack turned him around so his cheek rested against the cold concrete. Jack restrained Ianto's hands with the cuffs and then snapped the bracelet on his right wrist just above the cuff.

Jack continued to hold the now clearly panicked Ianto down. He leaned down so his lips were next to Ianto's ear. "I am not going to hurt you," he whispered. Ianto immediately calmed down. Those were the first word Jason had ever said to him. Those words made Ianto remember his training: lesson 1, never panic.

"That's a good boy," Jack whispered softly as Ianto's breathing returned to normal. Ianto began to assess the situation.

The first thing he realized was that Jacks groin was pressed up against his restrained hands. That gave him two possible options for escape, though neither was promising.

One, he could squeeze Jack's family jewels until it hurt, giving Ianto the chance to finish running up the stairs, if he could get up with his hands restrained, make it out the tourist door, if the door wasn't still locked, and run along the plass yelling for help, if anyone was even out there this late at night. There were a lot of ifs in that plan.

Two, Ianto could softly squeeze Jack's package until he grew hard then Ianto could beg to be fucked. Ianto wasn't entirely sure how that was going to lead to escape but Jack's pheromones were making it hard to think.

"It's just a tracking device, okay," Jack said softly unaware of Ianto's inner dialogue. A tracking device made Ianto's chances for escape become extinct. He let out a deep breath and resolved to go with option two anyway, forgetting all about Owen's order.

Jack groaned when Ianto softly massaged his groin. Ianto softly squeezed, Jack grinded against the Welshman's hands. Ianto moaned softly, Jack moved a hand to Ianto's hip softly caressing it.

"Ianto if you don't stop right now I am going to fuck you," Jack breathed.

Ianto softly squeezed again.

Jack growled the got up and pulled Ianto to his feet. "This isn't going to change anything. You will still be confined to the hub until further notice, and it will defiantly just be sex." Jack said pointing his finger at Ianto. "Do you still want to do it?" Jack asked.

"Yes, sir," Ianto said.

Jack didn't comment of the fact that Ianto had called him sir; he just led Ianto carefully to his bunker entrance in his office. He undid Ianto's wrists so he could climb down the ladder. Ianto stood by the bed examining his new bracelet while Jack descended down the ladder.

Ianto looked up to see Jack leaning against the ladder his arms crossed over his chest.

"Okay, here are the rules. I am in charge. Actually that's the only rule," Jack said smugly.

"Okay, sir," Ianto said.

*(smut)Jack smiled. "Take off your clothes. Leave the tie though," he said.

"Yes, sir," Ianto said as he began to undress. His perfectly tailored suit falling to the floor and he didn't even care.

Once he was standing in nothing but the tie Jack pointed to the spot on the floor directly in front of him. Ianto went and stood there facing Jack. Jack pulled him forward by the tie and placed a small kiss on his lips then let go of the tie.

"Turn around," Jack whispered. Ianto did what he was told.

Jack ran his hands down Ianto's naked back until he reached his arse. He expertly began to message the soft skin there. Ianto moaned. Jack slapped Ianto's ass. Ianto gasped. It hadn't hurt per se. It was just entirely unexpected. Jack took a step closer to Ianto's back and pulled the Welshman's head back gently by his hair. Ianto could feel Jacks breath on his ear.

"Did I say you could make a sound?" Jack asked.

"No, sir," Ianto said softly.

"Then why did you," Jack whispered.

"Because it felt good," Ianto said his voice cracking a bit.

"What did," Jack said then softly nipped Ianto's neck.

"You touching me," Ianto said trying not to moan.

Jack growled in response. "Make another sound without permission and your tie will become a gag. Got it?"

"Yes sir," Ianto said his voice trembling a bit.

"That's my good boy," Jack said lovingly as he removed his hand from Ianto's hair.

Jack placed a finger softly on Ianto's lips. "Suck it for me," Jack pouted.

Ianto took the finger into his mouth and began to suck seductively. Jack moaned and then pushed two more fingers into Ianto's mouth. "Mm you're so good at sucking baby, do you want to suck my cock in a minute," Jack said softly. Ianto nodded and held back a moan.

Jack removed his fingers from Ianto's mouth and then brought them to Ianto's entrance, one by one pushing them in and then with a teasingly slow pace he moved them back and forth inside Ianto. Meanwhile it took all of Ianto's mental ability to stay still and silent, although he could do nothing to stop the trembling of his body.

Jack breathed into Ianto's ear, "See how much more you can feel when you don't move or make a sound. I bet I could make you cum just like this, do you want that baby?" Ianto's body wanted nothing more.

"No, sir I want to cum with you inside me," Ianto said giving Jack the same answer he would have given Jason nearly 4 years ago.

Jack removed his fingers and Ianto had to bite his lip to keep from whimpering. Jack gently brought Ianto's hands back behind his back then secured them with the handcuffs he had kept in his pocket.

"All in good time," Jack said as he grabbed Ianto by the upper arm and led him towards the side of the bed. He positioned the Welshman towards the bed. "On your knees," Jack demanded. Ianto obeyed without hesitation. Jack gently pushed Ianto's open body forward so it lay on the bed. Jack then straddled Ianto's legs.

"You may make sounds now," Jack said. Ianto sighed in relief. He expected Jack to touch him then but the man apparently had other plans because he continued to talk. "This is the position I had you in that night," Jack sighed and ran his hand down Ianto's arm. "That night I met the friend that you supposedly never fucked," Jack continued. Ianto felt his muscles tense involuntarily. Jack must have felt it too because his hand stopped its trail down Ianto's arm and slightly gripped.

"Have you fucked him Ianto," Jack said his voice stern.

"Yes," Ianto said no use in lying when his traitorous body had already given him away. He felt a wave of anger rush through his body as the word left his mouth.

"When was the last time," Jack said his voice dangerous. If Ianto hadn't been able to feel the anger he would have heard it.

"Three weeks ago," Ianto said trying not to be influenced by Jack's anger.

"And the first time," Jack said tightening his grip on Ianto's arm.

"When I was 17," Ianto whispered.

Jack roughly pulled Ianto's torso up off the bed until his back collided with the immortal's chest. "How many more lies have you told me Ianto," Jack hissed. Ianto remained silent. Jack bit his shoulder. Ianto cried out. Bites fucking hurt. Jack pulled Ianto's head back by his hair and turned his head so it was only centimeters away from Ianto's ear. "You are mine, do you understand," Jack whispered harshly.

So much for this being just sex, Ianto thought.

"Do you understand," Jack repeated his voice a bit louder.

"Yes," Ianto spat out.

Jack softly kissed the bite mark on Ianto's shoulder then released his hair and pushed him back down onto the bed.

Jack got up then and head to the dresser. Ianto tried to see what the man was doing but he couldn't from this position. He didn't have to wait long till Jack was walking back towards him.

"Spread your knees further apart," Jack said. Ianto did as he was told. Jack got on his knees between Ianto's legs. He placed his hand next to Ianto's face in it he held a medium blue plug. Ianto had seen it before and knew it vibrated.

"Okay, baby," Jack asked softly while caressing Ianto ass.

"Yes, sir," Ianto answered.

It was seconds later that Ianto felt the lubed toy enter him, he moaned as it began to vibrate. Jack softly kissed Ianto's back then pulled Ianto's torso off the bed again. "Don't move," He whispered into Ianto's ear. That was easier said than done because the only thing he wanted to do was move to try and relief the intense feeling the vibration was causing him.

Jack got up. Ianto heard the sound of a zipper so he assumed that Jack was undressing. After a minute Jack sat down on the bed in front of Ianto. He put his hand on the side of Ianto's head.

"Does it feel good baby," Jack asked softly.

Ianto just nodded slightly biting his lip. Jack chuckled.

Jack then pulled Ianto's head towards his groin. Ianto got the message and took Jack's erection into his mouth. He slowly started to bob up and down taking Jack further in each time. Ianto kept it up trying to keep a steady pace and not be distracted by the vibrations still coursing through his body.

"Stop," Jack whispered finally. Ianto backed off then laid his head on Jack's thigh.

"Please, Jack, please," Ianto whimpered. Jack reached down and turned the vibrations off. Ianto sighed in relief, and then whimpered as Jack gently removed the plug and let it fall to the floor.

"I love it when you say my name," Jack said as he ran his hand up Ianto's back and onto his shoulder, then pushed Ianto up straight. "I am going to uncuff you now," Jack said softly running a hand along Ianto sweat drenched forehead.

Ianto nodded. Jack got up and walked behind Ianto after a few seconds Ianto felt Jacks hands on his and then the cuffs were released. Jack then got up on the bed and propped himself up against the head board. He grabbed a bottle of lube that was on the side table and tossed it to Ianto who caught it.

"Put that on me, and then I want you to ride me," Jack said.

Ianto nodded.

Ianto squirted some lube into his hand then sat the bottle on the side table. He rubbed his hand together the warm the liquid then straddled Jacks legs. Ianto gently coated Jacks erection until the man was practically panting.

Ianto put one hand on Jack's shoulder while using the other hand to line Jack's member up with his entrance. Slowly he lowered himself down, loving the way Jack moaned as he did.

Once Jack had totally filled Ianto, Ianto rested his other hand on Jack's other shoulder. He started to move slowly while looking into Jack's eyes. Jack stared intently back. Ianto moaned at the friction his erection was receiving pressed firmly between his and Jack's stomach.

After a minute Jack placed his hands on Ianto's hips and began to control the younger man's movements, making him speed up for a minute then slowing him down. Ianto felt like the man was taking him to the edge and then pulling him back. Finally Jack allowed Ianto to keep up a steady pace to push him to the edge then he sped him up and Ianto released all over his and Jack's chests. Jack allowed Ianto to ride out his orgasm then he flipped them over and slammed into the Welshman until he too fell over the edge.( end smut *)

Ianto caught his breath as Jack rolled off him and pulled him into a spooning position. Jack gently ran his hand over the bite mark on Ianto's shoulder. "Did I hurt you," he said softly.

"Just a little," Ianto said.

"I was just getting into the game, I know I don't own you," Jack said softly. Ianto let out a relived sigh he didn't even know he was keeping. "I even understand why you lied about me being your first," Jack continued, "Like I said before though this doesn't change anything."

"Fine," Ianto said, "would you like me to go to one of the medical suites to sleep."

"No, it will be easier to watch you if you are here," Jack said. Ianto knew that wasn't the reason Jack wanted him to stay, but he let the man's lie go.

It wasn't long until Ianto fell into a sedated sleep. Praying before he did that no nightmares would come.


	20. Chapter 20

AN: Hi everyone. Okay chapter 20. I am still sick. So please forgive any mistakes. I decided to put in a few flashbacks in this one hope you like it.

Disclaimers: I don't own Torchwood.

Spoilers: Cyberwoman

Warning: mentions of torture, death, sex, grieving, curse words, all that stuff.

2001

Ianto hated the days that the maid would tell him a secret. It only meant one thing. Torture training with Jason. He tried not to shake as he nodded at the elderly woman and walked away. Did she know what it meant every time she told him something Jason had instructed her to? Did she know what Ianto would be enduring the moment she walked out the door?

Ianto went to the second floor of the Sim's mansion to his room. How long would it be till he was able to see it again? His first torture training lesson had only lasted 4 hours and Jason had said he was surprised it had lasted that long. Jason had used all of Ianto's pressure points against him that first time, but Ianto had held on to the secret the maid had given him. He had felt a need to make Jason proud.

At Ianto's second training session he was beyond pissed at Jason for messing with his coffee machine. So Ianto had told the man the secret the moment he was tied to a chair. That had been a mistake. Jason had shown Ianto what solitary confinement was like, leaving the boy in the basement for nearly a month. Ianto always tried to keep the secret for as long as possible after that.

Ianto looked around his room. His full bed was made with the crimson bedding Jason had chosen for him. He could see all his suits, t-shirts, and blue jeans hanging in the open wardrobe, all Jason approved. The bookshelves were filled with pictures of Jason and him. Ianto picked up his favorite one. It depicted Jason with his arms securely around Ianto holding him close seeming to be protecting him from the world. Ianto felt like Jason could protect him from anything and anyone except Jason himself.

"Ianto," said a voice in the door way. Ianto turned to see Jason.

"Yes, sir," Ianto said softly trying not to show his anxiety.

"Training is canceled. I know Tangwen already told you the secret but…" Jason said then seemed to trail off.

"What is it," Ianto asked narrowing his eyebrows.

"Your Tad died this morning," Jason said.

Ianto was taken aback for a moment. He looked over to his bedside table where a cell phone his Mum had given him still sat. He was supposed to call his Tad with it, but he didn't know what to say to the man. Now he would never be able to say anything.

Ianto steeled his features then looked back at Jason. "And that's reason enough to cancel my training, sir?" Ianto said.

Jason narrowed his eyes. "You have to grieve," he stated.

"According to you I am going to lose every one so why should I waste my time with tears, sir," Ianto said his voice remaining calm.

"Because you don't want to end up like me," Jason said then left the room closing the door behind him.

TW-TW-TW

2007

Ianto woke up with a start. He was drenched in sweat and someone was holding him close. That only sent him into more of a panicked state. He had been held down in his dream.

"Let me go, I am awake let me go," he cried. Jack released him. Ianto jumped off the bed and thrust his boxers on. He tried to calm his breathing as he began to gather his clothing.

"What was your dream about," Jack asked.

"Fuck off," Ianto said not about to talk to Jack about his nightmares like he was a child.

Jack grabbed Ianto's upper arm all the clothing Ianto had managed to gather fell back to the floor.

"You don't have a choice anymore about what you share with me, what was the dream about!" Jack demanded.

Ianto attempted to pull his arm out of Jack's grip but was unsuccessful.

"Please don't make me tell you Jack," Ianto begged.

Jack pulled Ianto closer then wrapped an arm around his lower back. He leaned his head to the Welshman's ear. "They say it helps if you talk about it," he whispered the hand on Ianto's back sliding under the waistband of Ianto's boxers.

"I will tell Jason then," Ianto said bluntly.

Jack released Ianto. Ianto began to gather his clothing again. Once it was all in his arms he turned and looked at the ladder. There was no way he was going to make it up there holding all his clothing and his shoes. He grabbed one shoe and threw it in to Jack's office, then listened, no crash, good. He tossed the second shoe.

"Oi!" Owen's voice shouted.

Ianto looked over at Jack. "What time is it?" he asked.

"7:30. Seems Owen is here early," Jack said he sounded angry.

Ianto narrowed his eyes. "What do you want me to do Jack, confined in you, the man who let a pterodactyl tear apart my girlfriend! I think I have already shamed her memory enough." Ianto snapped then headed up the ladder before Jack could comment.

Ianto crawled to his feet out of Jack's bunker to find Owen leaning against the doorframe of Jack's office.

"Good morning," Owen said with fake cheer, "did you sleep well?"

"Yes, actually now that you mention it," Ianto said with clear sarcasm as Jack joined them in the office.

"Ianto, go to the medical bay. Daddy and I need to have a chat. A loud one," Owen said glaring at Jack.

Ianto just wanted to get away from both men so he didn't argue. As he entered the medical bay he started to hear the yelling.

"I gave you one fucking rule Harkness," Owen yelled.

Then Jack yelled back, "I'm the boss you can't tell me what to do!"

"When it has to do with the health of a team member I out rank you," Owen screamed then Ianto heard Jack's office door close and the words became hard to understand.

Ianto didn't know what to do now that he was standing in the medical bay in just his boxers. He looked down at the wrinkled suit in his hands. Nope, Ianto Jones didn't wear wrinkled suits no matter how cold it was in the hub.

Ianto noticed that Owen had set up a medical tray with a few supplies. A small paper cup filled with water, a smaller cup holding pills, alcohol wipes, a few band aids, and some triple antibacterial ointment. Ianto instinctively touched the small scrapes on his face. They looked nothing like the scar that was on his future self's cheek. He had sighed in relief when he had been able to properly see them last night after his shower.

"You could have gotten dressed," Owen's said as he joined Ianto in the medical bay.

"Suit's wrinkled," Ianto said as if that was reason enough to still be basically naked.

Owen rolled his eyes. "Right, get up on the table," he said.

Ianto sat on the end of the autopsy table. Owen handed him the cup of water and the cup of medication.

"Take these," Owen demanded.

Ianto took them without complaint. Owen placed a hand on Ianto's forehead.

"What are you doing?" Ianto complained.

"Checking for a fever, sometimes high fevers make people not act their selves, and you just took that medication without whining," Owen teased.

"Ha Ha," Ianto said, "Barrel of laughs, you."

Owen smiled as he began to peel off the old band aids on Ianto's cheek.

"So you going to yell at me to then?" Ianto asked resisting the urge to tell Owen he could change his own band aids.

"Na, why would I," Owen said throwing the soiled bandages into the trash and grabbing the triple antibacterial ointment along with a cotton swab.

"Because I slept with Jack," Ianto said as Owen put the ointment on his cuts.

"Did you," Owen said playing dumb.

Ianto huffed. Owen put new band aids over the cuts, and then took a step back. He smiled at Ianto then frowned when his eyes landed on the bite mark on the Welshman's shoulder. Ianto flinched as Owen ran his fingers lightly over the mark.

"Barely broke the skin, still it's going to be bruised for a while," Owen said softly then let his hand fall too just above Ianto's elbow. "No one can tell you how to grieve, but make sure that you do," the doctor added somberly.

Ianto nodded.

"Okay, well I brought you a suit from your flat. It is in your locker, wrinkle free promise. I am going to release the suicide watch for the time being. Just to warn you I took all your harmful materials from your flat, you know knifes, guns, dental floss. I am ordering you to have two weeks of medical leave and then you can return to work." Owen explained.

"Jack said I would still be held here even after you released the suicide watch," Ianto said confused.

"Well Jack can suck it," Owen said simply as he began to head up the stairs. "Now go shower and get dressed. Then I will take you to breakfast then to your flat."

TW-TW-TW

Ianto emerged from his shower to find Tosh typing vigorously on her computer and Gwen sitting on the couch looking towards Jack's office with a worried expression. Ianto could once again hear the raised voices of Jack and Owen.

"They're fighting because of you," Gwen said nodding towards Ianto. Tosh stopped typing.

"Yes, well they never fought before did they," Ianto said sarcastically.

"This isn't funny," Gwen snapped.

Ianto narrowed his eyes. "I am aware of how unfunny this is being as they are fighting over my fate," he growled at Gwen.

"Ianto," Tosh said softly. Ianto turned and looked at her. "I'm sorry," she continued.

Ianto gave her a tiny smile. "You didn't do anything," he said.

"No, I left last night even though Owen wanted two people to stay," Tosh said sounding ashamed.

"You did," Ianto said with mock disappointment, "to make up for that you should remove this little thing for me." he gestured to the bracelet Jack had given him.

"No can do," Tosh laughed.

"Are you sure," Ianto said taking a step closer to her, "I am sure together we could make it all the way to Newport before Jack caught us."

"As fun as that sounds I am going to pass," Tosh said with a wink just as Jacks office door opened.

Jack marched straight to Ianto and grabbed his wrist. Ianto felt pure anger rush through him. He knew it wasn't his so he tried to fight it off. Jack pulled back the sleeve of Ianto's jacket.

"Keep your arm up," Jack demanded then he let go of Ianto's arm and held up his wrist strap. He pushed in a few buttons then looked up at Ianto. "You can drop it now," he said Ianto dropped his arm. "You are not to go more than 5 kilometers away from your flat, and you are not allowed to leave your flat without checking with me in the first place. Disobey me and you will find yourself in a cell next to the weevil. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," Ianto said trying to not seem scared.

"Good, go with Owen," Jack said then turned and went back to his office but stopped short of his door and said, "Someone will bring you lunch at noon, and dinner at 8."

TW-TW-TW

As Owen pulled up to Ianto's flat after breakfast he was happy to see it.

"Am I allowed to have mates over," Ianto asked as Owen parked the blue sports car.

"Sure," Owen said with a shrug as he undid his seat belt.

"Are you coming in," Ianto said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep, Jack wants me to put a monitoring device on your door, so he can know when it's opened. Sorry." Owen said opening the car door and getting out.

Ianto got out of the car and followed Owen up into his flat. It looked to Ianto like he had been robbed.

"You could have tried not to make such a mess," Ianto said looking at Owen who was attaching something to his door.

"Sorry about that mate," Owen said. He pressed a button on what was obviously alien technology then closed the front door.

"What if someone comes to the door, or I need to check my mail, or there is a fire," Ianto said.

"You can still open the door, just expect a call from Jack if you do, better to call him before you open it," Owen said with raised eyebrows.

"I could always just go out the window," Ianto said under his breath.

"You could but know that all weevils snore," Owen said then headed to leave, "like Jack said someone will be here at noon with your lunch."

Ianto nodded and sat heavily on his couch as he watched the doctor retreat out his front door. He wondered if Jason would casually come by. If he would risk it, Ianto was sure his future self would have told Jason everything that happened by now.

With a sigh Ianto lay down on the couch and looked towards his telly. Sitting out of place on the entertainment center was a 4x6 frame housing a picture of him and Lisa. Ianto felt fresh tears spring to his eyes. He was going to miss her so much. If she were here with him they would be watching some chick flick that Ianto would pretend to hate though in reality he would really like it. They would talk about their futures, expressing fears they both shared. Ianto began to silently sob in to his couch pillow until he fell asleep.

TW-TW-TW

2001 (Two months after Ianto's father's death)

Ianto knocked cautiously on the bedroom door of his lover, mentor, and guardian. He wiped a stray tear off his face as he waited for an answer. Jason opened the door slowly his expression angry at first and then it softened.

"What happen," Jason said.

"I am sorry, I know I am supposed to tell you before I leave, I know I was gone all day. My sister called, my Mum…" Ianto said his voice going out at the end as he began to sob openly.

Jason pulled Ianto in to a hug. "Does it ever get any easier," Ianto managed to sob out after a minute.

"No, not if you want to keep your soul," Jason said.

"Do you still have your soul," Ianto asked in a teasing tone nestling his face against Jason's t-shirt.

Jason chuckled. "You would never let me lose it," he said softly then pressed a kiss into Ianto's hair.

"It's my fault," Ianto said, "I should have gone to stay with her after Tad died."

Jason stiffened. The debate over Ianto moving back home had been the biggest fight the two had had since they met. "What happened," he asked his voice showing no emotion.

Ianto looked up into Jason's eyes, "Overdose of prescription medication," he answered.

"Then it was her fault," Jason said.

"One might say it was yours," Ianto snapped as he pushed Jason away.

For once Jason let him go.

TW-TW-TW

2007

Ianto woke up from his nap with a brief moment of peace before the reality of his life came crashing down on him. He had been dreaming of his father. Back when he was 9 before the two started to disagree about everything, before Ianto ran away, before his Tad had shown up at Jason's and yelled at his son for being gay, before the apology letter his father sent, and before his father passed away.

Ianto lay on his couch looking straight at the ceiling thinking about his Mum and Tad. He had grieved so differently after both of their deaths. It had taken 4 days for him to finally cry over his Father and nearly 4 months for him to stop crying over his Mother. He had run towards Jason after his Father's death and pushed Jason away after his Mother's.

Sobs started to go through Ianto's body this was a pain he knew he would feel over and over again, he didn't like the feeling at all. He sat up and wrapped his arms around himself trying to hold himself together least he break into a million pieces. He startled when he felt someone place a hand on his shoulder. He was surprised when he turned to see it was Aria Miller.

"Sorry didn't mean to scare you," Aria said softly.

Ianto shook his head, "It's okay, but how did you get in?" he asked wiping his eyes.

"My husband kinda owns the place so I have a key," Aria said with a grin.

Ianto's eyes widened. Jason wasn't paying for his flat at all, his future self was.

"Oh of course," Ianto said laughing out loud.

"Plus the door was unlocked," Aria said gesturing towards the front door.

Ianto's face paled. The door, crap Aria would have opened it and he was supposed to call Jack when that happened. As he reached into his suit jacket for his phone he realized that no one had returned it to him. Well that wasn't his fault.

A baby's cry broke Ianto from his thoughts. He looked down to see baby Ruby strapped into her child seat on the floor. Aria bent and took her out of it then cradled the baby in her arms.

"You are getting better I see," Ianto teased.

Aria rolled her eyes then she gently handed the baby to him. She was happy now that she was no longer restrained in her seat. Ianto held her up in front of him so her little feet rested on his thighs. Her eyes were his exact shade of blue. Ianto couldn't believe he hadn't noticed that before. He laughed slightly as Ruby pushed her feet into his thighs as if trying to stand all the while trying to get her whole hand in her mouth. Ianto sighed. This baby was his future, a reason to go on, to keep fighting.

"Thanks," Ianto said to Aria.

Suddenly the door busted open startling the baby who let out an ear splitting scream. Ianto propped her over his shoulder and began to gently bounce her making small cooing noises. Jack stood in the door way obviously confused by the sight in front of him.

Aria got up from her seat and placed her hands on her hips facing Jack.

"What the hell is your problem mister, I own this flat, I have half a mind to call the police the way you just busted in here, scared my baby half to death. Is that what you like to do scare babies? You will be paying for that broken lock as well. In fact you should probably head to the hardware store now. Ianto will want some security to night while he sleeps." Aria yelled at Jack getting closer and closer to the older man until she was standing right in front of him and standing on her tip toes pointer finger in his face.

Jack put his hands up in surrender, "I am sorry I didn't mean to scare the baby, of course I will repair the lock," he managed to stammer out when Aria had finished her rant. Ianto understood what his future self saw in Aria now, she had a fiery temper.

"You bet your ass you will," Aria snapped turning back toward Ianto and taking the baby gently from him with a smile. "Okay, it was good chatting with you Ianto; I will tell Mr. Davies that there was no burglary last night. I can't wait till my husband comes back from Berlin so I don't have to deal with all this tenant drama." She then grabbed Ruby's car seat and headed out the door.

Jack closed it behind her then pulled Ianto's phone from his coat pocket and handed it to him.

"She was scary," Jack said.

Ianto couldn't help but smile. "You should see her husband. He is a real badass."

TBC


	21. Chapter 21

AN: Small worlds. This was a fun chapter to write. It involves a whirlwind of emotions though. Hope you like it.

Disclaimers: I don't own Torchwood.

Warnings: umm curse words, death, mentions of sex.

Jack plopped down on the couch beside Ianto. "Sorry about your door," he said.

Ianto shrugged.

"So you'll be interested to know that your landlord is not the first irate woman I've dealt with today," Jack continued.

Ianto looked at the older man and raised his eyebrows.

"Tosh," Jack said when he realized Ianto wasn't going to speak.

Ianto just nodded then went to his kitchen with the intent to make coffee.

"Don't you want to know what she said," Jack asked as he followed Ianto into the kitchen.

Ianto turned and glared at Jack. "Why are you here Jack? You said someone would come at noon, it's not even 10:45," he snapped.

"I was bringing your phone to you," Jack said.

Ianto held up his phone for Jack to see, "Thanks, I got it, you can go now and how about not coming back."

"I'm trying to apologize," Jack yelled.

"What?" Ianto said in disbelief. "I didn't hear an apology."

"I said sorry about the door," Jack pouted.

Ianto put his head in his hands and let out a growl.

"Okay Jack, lets, for arguments sake, say that you are indeed apologizing. What is it you are apologizing for, besides the door?" Ianto said slowly.

"For acting as if you meant for your girlfriend to try and take over the world," Jack said softly taking a step closer to Ianto and reaching up to brush his thumb over Ianto's tear stained cheek.

Ianto closed his eyes and leaned into Jack's touch, knowing how easy it would be to get lost in it once again. When Ianto opened his eyes Jack was standing even closer and the hand not caressing Ianto's cheek was on Ianto's hip. Jack smiled softly then leaned forward and captured Ianto's lips almost immediately trying to deepen the kiss, but Ianto pulled away.

"What else are you sorry for," Ianto whispered trying to block out Jack's pheromones.

"Not what you want me to be sorry for," Jack said dropping his hand from Ianto's cheek but leaving the one on his hip.

"Then you really should leave," Ianto said pulling away from Jack's grip and heading to the other end of the kitchen.

"Damit Ianto, I had to do it! You understand that if I hadn't, you, Gwen, and Owen would all be dead now," Jack yelled.

Ianto did understand that and maybe given time he could actually forgive Jack but not now. Not when 24 hours hadn't even passed yet.

"Just leave Jack," Ianto said and Jack left without another word.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto lay on his bed and stared at the red numbers of his bedside clock. It was too early to be awake but his mind was refusing to let him go back to sleep. It had been over a week since he had seen or heard from Jack. Owen had answered the phone the first time Ianto called to say he was going to the store, and after that Owen and Tosh were the only people he saw from Torchwood.

He had also had no contact with any rift children since that day. He felt a bit abandoned. He knew it was a security risk and that was the only reason but he had at least expected to see Jason. Ianto had been sure Jason would come see him despite the risk.

Owen removed the monitoring device from Ianto's door on his second day of medical leave. It had stopped working anyway because Jack had broken it when he bashed the door open. Ianto was also allowed to leave his flat without checking in, though the silver bracelet was still firmly in place, as well as the 5 kilometer restriction.

Ianto rolled out of bed. Sleep was going to continue to evade him so he just gave up. He trudged into his living room and sat down on his couch flipping on his telly to some early morning news program. There was a meteorologist discussing some odd weather reports in Cardiff. First was a rain storm in Splott that only covered one home, then a man in Grangetown was claiming his car got caught in a hail storm though no other vehicles were damaged. The meteorologist was claiming both instances to be hokum. Ianto wasn't convinced. He shut off the television after the camera return to the normal reporter and she said, "That's just the normal spookiness of Cardiff for you, Jeff."

This is what Ianto needed something productive to do. Owen had told him yesterday that Jack had gone to London for a UNIT conference and Tosh had just reinstated his passwords into the hub as well as giving him back his pass cards. He would go to the hub research the weather and leave a detailed description for Tosh. His mind made up he headed to his bathroom to get ready.

Once he was in his car, which he was happy to have gotten back three days before, he began to feel excited. So because there were no cars on the road that early he drove a bit faster than he should, turning corners as if he was being chased. He imagined he was James Bond, out to save the weather.

He laughed out loud. Once he reached the parking garage a smile was glued on his face.

The look of elation was still on his face when he entered the tourist center but quickly fell when he saw a cardboard box sitting on the counter. He cautiously peered inside. It was all of Lisa's personal effects from her underground prison. Sitting on top was Lisa's favorite picture of the two of them together. Ianto had a copy in his flat already. Tears started to flow freely from his eyes as he looked at it. He hardly noticed them; he was use to them now. He quickly picked the box up and headed into the hub. From there he headed to the incinerator and he tossed the whole box in. He didn't want those memories. Of his Lisa covered in metal in constant pain, nope he wanted to remember her whole. Ianto allowed himself five minutes to fall apart then he wiped his tears and headed back to the hub to Tosh's computer to look up strange weather occurrences.

Ianto printed out several reports about strange weather including the two the news program had mentioned. He went to the printer to get the reports placing them all in a manila folder then headed back to Tosh's computer to leave her a note about the reports. He had his head down reading one of them when Jack's voice startled him.

"You shouldn't be here."

Ianto looked up at Jack standing in his trousers and under shirt his braces hanging at his side. Ianto felt his breath catch. "Neither should you," he said to answer Jack's questioning look. He then closed the file and continued on his way to Tosh's computer, aware of the fact that Jack was following him.

Ianto felt Jack place a hand on his back gently and became hyperaware of the older man's pheromones. Yum was all he could think mixed with a guilty feeling in his stomach.

"What do you got," Jack said interrupting Ianto's thoughts.

Ianto took a deep breath, "funny sort of weather patterns."

Ianto looked back at Jack to see his face covered in worry. "Do you know what's causing it," he asked.

Jack made eye contact with Ianto and tried to hide the worry quickly. "Ya, but there is nothing we can do about it right now. How are you doing," he said softly.

Ianto shrugged. Jack let out a sigh, "Well there really is nothing that can be done right now, so why don't you head back home and get some more sleep?"

That's not what Ianto wanted to do at all. "Please let me stay and work, I can't take being alone anymore. I need something productive to do," Ianto begged.

Jack raised his eyebrows and grinned, "There are plenty of…" he began but Ianto cut him off with a finger placed on his lips.

"If that sentence ends with 'productive things you can do to me,' then you best not finish it," Ianto said with a charming smile.

Jack shrugged then took a step away from Ianto. "Okay," he said putting his hands up in surrender, "you can stay, but understand that I will be continuing to flirt with you."

Ianto smiled. "Good," he said then winked and walked away from Jack to go to the archives. He was sure there would be a mess in there that he needed to sort out. As he sat at his desk looking over the reports that his team mates considered done he tried not to think too much about the shocked look he had left on Jack's face.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto couldn't really understand how his team mates had managed to trash the hub so bad in the last week and a half. Once he finished in the archives he started cleaning the main hub. It looked like it had when he first arrived at Torchwood 3, well minus the shoe in the water.

He was disinfecting Owen's work station when Tosh arrived. Her face lit up when she saw him. She ran to him and engulfed him in a hug.

"Steady on," Ianto said not entirely comfortable with the hug.

"Sorry," Tosh said as she took a step back and straightened his suit back out from where the hug had crumpled it. "It's just really good to see you here in the hub," she said cheerfully.

"It's good to be back," Ianto said, "Do you want me to make you some coffee?" Tosh nodded.

"I want some coffee!" Jack yelled from his office.

"Right away sir," Ianto yelled back to him. It felt comforting to be able to fall back into his normal routine as if he hadn't been away.

Ianto quickly made a coffee for Tosh and Jack. Delivering Tosh hers first then head to Jack's office and sat the coffee in front of him.

"Take a seat," Jack said his tone questioning.

Ianto nodded and then sat.

"How are you doing," Jack asked for the second time that day.

Ianto was tempted to say fine, but knew Jack wouldn't accept that. So he went with the truth.

"It varies," Ianto said softly.

Jack nodded, "Yeah, that's normal. It never heals totally just the times between being okay and having a break down get longer and longer."

"Have you lost many lovers," Ianto asked before he could stop himself.

"Yep, so many, it's why I try and not to get attached anymore," Jack said then took a sip of his coffee. "Mm, I have missed this so much," he moaned.

Ianto laughed. "I am glad to see I am still appreciated for my coffee skills, sir," he teased.

Jack smiled then his face turned to a rare nervous expression. "I was wondering if we could maybe start again," he said softly.

Ianto nodded, "Okay, yeah," he said nervously then suddenly blurted, "I am sorry Jack; I promise that I didn't intend to sleep with you, it wasn't part of some master 'seduce Jack Harkness' plan. It just happened."

Jack nodded but didn't say anything. He stared at Ianto for a minute while he drank his coffee making Ianto feel extremely nervous.

"I just want to go on the record and say that I seduced you," Jack said finally breaking the silence.

"That's what happened is it?" Ianto said slightly chuckling.

"Yep," Jack said popping the p at the end of the word.

"Whatever helps you, well do whatever it is you do at night," Ianto said with a wink as he got up and headed back to the main hub. He heard Jack laugh behind him.

Ianto left the hub shortly after that to get breakfast. When he came back Gwen and Owen were there.

"What are you doing here," Owen said when he saw Ianto. His voice though not the same accent reminded Ianto of how Jason would address him in the past.

Ianto flinched slightly and looked down at Owen in the med bay the man had his arms crossed over his chest.

"I was bored, so I came to work," Ianto said.

Owen narrowed his eyes, "half days only, I want you to be home by 3, okay." he said.

Ianto nodded then offered Owen some pastries, Owen took one then smiled. "It's good to have you back," he whispered then louder said, "Get me some coffee Tea-boy."

Ianto rolled his eyes at Owen's attempt to hide his compassion from the rest of the team and went to get the doctor a Coffee.

After delivering the doctor his coffee he went to give one to Gwen.

"Thanks Ianto," Gwen said taking the coffee, "Glad you are back." Her voice sounded so fake Ianto almost called her out on it but decided against it. He did however glare at the back of her head when she turned back to her computer screen.

Jack walked up beside him then and gave him a questioning look. Ianto schooled his features and smiled at the man, "Would you like another coffee sir," he questioned.

"No thanks," Jack said to Ianto, "Gwen how about a little field trip," he asked Gwen.

Gwen turned to look at Jack with glee. Ianto felt that green demon inside his gut again. "Sure Jack sounds fun," she chirped.

Ianto wanted to roll his eyes. Jack hadn't even said what it was how did it sound fun?

Jack placed a hand on the small of Ianto's back causing the Welshman to freeze. "Okay, let's go then," he said still addressing Gwen.

Ianto could tell that Gwen noticed the hand on his back. He could basically see the green flames in her eyes he resisted the urge to smirk as Jack patted his back then took his hand away and headed toward the cog door. Gwen followed him looking back at Ianto once with a questioning glare.

About two hours later Ianto's cell phone rang. He saw it was Jack and answered it.

"Can I help you sir," Ianto said.

"Yep," Jack said lightly, "First why don't you have your comms unit on, I kept trying to get you and I only got Tosh."

"Sorry sir, I will put it on after this call," Ianto said.

"Great, okay can you get Tosh to look up the Cottingley Fairies photos and arrange for us to view them in the boardroom," Jack said.

"Sure, but didn't you just say that you talked to Tosh on the comms?" Ianto said confused.

"Well I wanted to hear your voice," Jack said his voice a little quieter. Ianto could hear Gwen's voice in the background no doubt talking to Rhys on her own phone.

Ianto felt himself blush. "Oh, okay, well I will let Tosh know, see you in a bit sir," Ianto said knowing his words were coming out too fast.

"Okay, bye Ianto" Jack said chuckling a bit then ended the call. Ianto closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

TW-TW-TW

"This is the youngest girl," Tosh said then switched the picture on the boardrooms television, "and this is the girl's cousin."

Everyone was in the boardroom looking at the Cottingley fairy photos. Ianto stared at them and couldn't really fathom why anyone would have believed them authentic.

"I blame it on the magic mushrooms," he said as he sat a coffee in front of Jack.

"What you do in private is none of our business," Jack commented.

Gwen started to have a debate with Owen over the authenticity of the photos. Owen was for them, Gwen was against them. Ianto looked up to see Tosh smiling at him and realized he was still standing close to Jack he moved away. Tosh's grin widened. He rolled his eyes at her. Jack caught the eye roll and winked at him.

"So where was this sighting then?" Tosh said and Jack's attention turned back to the paper in front of him.

"In a place called round stone wood," Jack said.

Once the meeting was over Ianto lingered behind and began to pick up the now empty coffee mugs. He jumped when he felt a hand on his back.

"Sorry," Jack said softly, "didn't mean to scare you, just wanted to let you know that Owen, Gwen, and I are heading to Round Stone wood, and I was wondering if maybe later tonight I could come over to your flat."

"What would be your reason for coming to my flat, sir," Ianto asked.

Jack smiled and put his hands up in surrender, "Just to talk, I promise," he answered.

Ianto bit his lip, and then nodded.

Jack smiled, "Okay cool, I will be there about 9, is that okay."

"Sure sounds good," Ianto said.

Jacks smile widened then he kissed Ianto gently on the cheek and left the boardroom.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto took a shower at 8pm and got into a pair of tighter then they needed to be track bottoms and a thin white undershirt.

He ordered a pizza. It arrived at 8:45. He decided he would wait for Jack to eat it.

At 9:30 he ate some of the pizza. At 10 he very nearly called Jack.

When Jack hadn't shown by 11 pm Ianto gave up hoping that Jack was just late and went to bed.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto showed up at the hub at 7:30 the next morning having made up his mind that he was going to forget about his fascination with Jack Harkness.

He went to the coffee machine and made Jack's coffee then headed to the man's office with a plan to place the coffee down and walk out quickly. When he got to the office he threw his plan and new decision out the window. Jack was just staring straight ahead his hand wrapped around a glass of scotch, and his cheeks stained with obvious tear streaks. Lying on the desk in front of Jack was a black and white photo of a beautiful young woman.

Ianto sat the coffee down and took away the glass of scotch. Jack barely registered the movement. Ianto then went into Jack's bunker and into the tiny bathroom in there and got a wet washcloth. When he returned to Jack's office he moved the photo and sat on Jacks desk directly in front of the man. Softly he began to use the washcloth to clean the dried tears off Jack's cheeks. Jack smiled at him then and Ianto smiled softly back.

"I'm sorry," Jack said after a while, "I should have called you."

"Doesn't matter," Ianto said softly then leaned back. "You want to talk about it?"

"Not really," Jack said as he stood up and pulled Ianto into a hug. Ianto allowed it then became a bit startled when Jack started to softly sob on his shoulder.

They stayed like that for a while, Ianto having to bite his lip to keep from asking questions; finally Jack stood up straight and wiped his eyes.

"Her name was Estelle, and I loved her so much," Jack began, "She died last night, the fairies, if that's what you want to call them, drowned her in a rain storm. God, I just can't…" he stopped then and closed his eyes. Ianto remained silent giving Jack time to speak his mind.

Finally Jack opened his eyes and looked at Ianto, "I will never be able to love you Ianto, because I can't love anymore. It hurts me too much."

Ianto got off the desk and place a hand on Jack's shoulder. "I don't ever remember asking you to love me Jack," he said softly.

Jack gave a small laugh and wiped his eyes, "No you never did."

"I never will either Jack, not if it's something you don't feel comfortable with. I really do like being with you, but it doesn't have to be anything more than friendship, Okay," Ianto said softly.

"Just friendship," Jack said with a grin.

"I will consider adding benefits later," Ianto teased.

"Of course, later when you are ready for the perks of being my friend," Jack said then pulled Ianto into an embrace and kissed his hair. He pulled away from him then and smiled wildly, "you're brilliant."

TW-TW-TW

Ianto was alone in the hub most of the day. He was able to get a lot of things done, mainly cleaning and filing. The team came back to the hub around 4 pm and everyone was mad at Jack, which in general just made everyone mad.

"I said you were to go home by 3, what are you still doing here Tea-boy?" Owen yelled at Ianto.

Jack came out of his office then, "how about this everyone go home!" he yelled at Owen mainly.

Tosh and Owen made their way out of the hub quickly and Gwen went to the boardroom to pick up the paperwork from the fairy case.

Ianto went cautiously to Jacks office. The man was leaning back in his chair his face in an expression of pure anger. Ianto resisted the urge to just leave without another word.

"Jack," Ianto said to get the man's attention. Jack looked up with questioning eyes, "I was wondering if maybe you might want to come back to mine."

Jack's face turned to one of confusion. "Did they not tell you what happened?" Jack asked.

"Tosh informed me, I am sorry you had to make such a hard decision," Ianto said then bit his lip.

"So you aren't mad then?" Jack asked. Ianto shook his head. Jack got up and grabbed his coat. "Well then yes Ianto I would love to go back to yours."


	22. Chapter 22

AN: Chapter 22. Just a little note, I noticed that half of chapter 12 was missing from the Fanfiction site. So if you read on that site then you should go back and reread that chapter. Anyway, as wished for there is some Jason is this chapter. I love that everyone loves to hate him. It really makes me happy. I hope he doesn't disappoint in this chapter.

Disclaimers: I don't own Torchwood.

Spoilers: Small Worlds, Countrycide

Warning: Bit of smut, cursing, that's about it.

Ianto's nerves were beyond shot as he and Jack drove to his flat. He kept sneaking glances at the man in his passenger seat but Jack never noticed because he was just staring out the window.

"Jack," Ianto said finally when he couldn't stand the silence anymore.

"Yes," Jack said.

Ianto didn't know what to say. "Umm, you said yesterday that you just wanted to talk, is that still the plan?"

"If that's what you want, you are calling the shots," Jack said softly.

"Oh okay, just checking," Ianto said.

They became silent again. Ianto took a breath to calm himself. This wasn't a big deal. Jack had been to his flat several times. Yes all those times usually ended with him and Jack in bed but not every time. No Ianto was determined to take things slow this time. No sex, just talking, maybe watching a film, or having a beer, but absolutely no sex.

Ianto pulled his car into a parking space then got out. Jack followed behind him. Ianto unlocked his door and went in. Jack came in and shut the door. Ianto put his keys and wallet in the bowl on his entrance table. Jack took off his coat and walked to the other side of the living room to toss it over a chair. Then they both turned and faced each other.

There was an awkward silence for a minute then when Ianto had had enough he said, "Fuck it," and closed the distance between him and Jack crashing their lips together. Jack responded immediately pulling Ianto's body closer by moving his arms around Ianto's back. Ianto moaned and began to force Jacks braces down his chest then started on the buttons on his blue shirt losing patience half way down and ripping the rest of them. Jack had plenty of those shirts anyway. Jack moved Ianto's hands away and pushed the ruined shirt off his shoulders then pulled the under shirt off over his head. Ianto meanwhile began to work on his own clothing pulling off his tie, unbuttoning his shirt then pulling his suit jacket and dress shirt off with one go.

The men crashed back together then, bare chest against bare chest.

"I need you now Jack," Ianto begged.

Jack nodded, "Yes, okay, yes" he said his voice frantic as he started to undo Ianto's trousers his movements just as needy as Ianto's. Ianto toed off his shoes and began to undo Jacks trousers. Before long both men were naked and moving towards Ianto's bed their lips connecting to the others skin anywhere they could. Finally they fell on the bed Ianto pinned underneath Jack. Jack started to attack Ianto's neck with kisses and little nibbles. Ianto moaned and bucked up into the older man.

"Please now," Ianto begged. Jack reached over and opened the side table drawer pulling out the lube. He quickly used it to prepare Ianto and then swiftly entered him. Ianto cried out then his breathing became heavy as Jack began to move at a very quick pace. Ianto was pretty sure this was the best sex he and Jack had ever had together. It was like he was feeling every possible feeling at once, love, hate, sadness, fear, happiness, lust, anger, jealously, possessiveness, and need so much need. It didn't take long until they both yelled out their release.

"Well that was some talk," Ianto said as Jack rolled off of him.

"Yes it was," said a voice coming from the bedrooms doorway.

Ianto and Jack both jumped out of the bed. Jack picked the duvet up and covered Ianto with it. Not at all worried it seemed if the intruder saw him naked. Ianto tried to not think about how his cum was now staining the crimson blanket.

"Jason, what the fuck are you doing," Ianto yelled.

"I did knock, you were just occupied, the door was unlocked so figured I could just catch the free show," Jason said winking at Jack.

Ianto ran his hand over his face. For over a week he had been expecting Jason to show up and now he does while Ianto is in the middle of getting fucked by Jack. Life could be such a bitch sometimes.

Jack took a step closer to Jason, "Did you enjoy it," Jack asked still shamelessly nude.

"Yes, Yanni has the most delightful moans," Jason said grinning over at Ianto.

Jack smiled and let out a chuckle, then without warning punched Jason in the mouth. Jason fell to the ground. Ianto was so shocked he didn't move. He had never seen anyone hit Jason, not that he hadn't wanted to.

Jason scrambled back to his feet holding a hand to his now bleeding lip. "Man you have a hell of a right hook," he mumbled.

Ianto came back to reality then. Jason's lip was going to heal quickly so he had to get something to cover it with. He went to the bathroom and grabbed a wash cloth he then went to Jason and held it against his lip. It was already healing. Ianto tried to get as much blood as possible on the rag before the bleeding stopped. He stood in front of Jason to obscure Jack's view. It was amazing watching the lip heal that fast. Jason took the rag and held it over the spot that should still be bleeding but was now totally healed.

Ianto backed away from him then. "This should be a lesson to you, people don't take to kindly to you watching them having sex. You want to do that buy some porn," Ianto teased.

Jason nodded. "I got it; anyway I didn't come over to watch you have sex."

"Then why are you here," Jack said obviously still pissed.

"To see my friend, haven't heard from him in a while thought I'd drop by and make sure he was okay," Jason said defensively.

"Well as you can see he is perfectly fine, so you can leave now being as your mission is accomplished," Jack spit out.

Ianto took Jack's hand and pulled him in to the living room. "Stay in here while we put our clothes back on," he said to Jason then closed his bedroom door. He began to get dressed and Jack did the same.

"I don't like him," Jack said.

"Really, I would never have guessed," Ianto teased.

"Were you two in a relationship or just fuck-buddies," Jack asked.

"Relationship," Ianto answered simply.

"Why did it end," Jack asked.

Ianto stopped buttoning his shirt and looked at Jack, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Sure I would, tell me," Jack said.

"Fine, he cheated on me with Gwen," Ianto said shrugging his shoulders.

Jack rolled his eyes, "I am being genuine here, can you please just give me the real answer."

Ianto laughed out loud. "Told ya you wouldn't believe me," he said then opened his bedroom door. "You can come out…" he began to tell Jason then noticed the man was in his closet reorganizing his shirts.

"What are you doing," Ianto asked walking into the room and closing the door.

Jason looked at him. "You had them going the wrong way, they are supposed to go light to dark, and you had them dark to light."

"I like them organized dark to light," Ianto said annoyed.

"Yes well world doesn't revolve around you does it," Jason said continuing his work.

"Get the fuck out of my closet," Ianto said.

"Fine I am coming out of the closet," Jason said with a smile as he bent down to get the bloody wash cloth off the floor.

"Why are you really here," Ianto said low enough so Jack couldn't hear him even if he was listening at the door.

"To see you," Jason said softly.

"Well took you long enough," Ianto spat out.

"I was forbidden to come until today, Aria was to but she disobeyed orders, Iden lets the bitch get away with murder though," Jason said.

"That is my future wife you are referring to," Ianto snapped, "I suggest you watch what you say."

Jason narrowed his eyes. "She's a fucking bitch, who doesn't follow orders," he said testing Ianto.

Ianto went to punch Jason but found his arm twisted behind his back. He had to bite his lip to keep from crying out. "I am your superior, and you were going to hit me. You think you have special privileges because I love you, or is it because you will eventually be the Minister?" Jason whispered against Ianto's ear.

"Let me go Jason," Ianto whispered praying Jack didn't come in.

"I could have you removed from Torchwood and sent somewhere else, or better yet I could lock you in my basement, maybe some solitary confinement will make you remember who is in charge. Would you like that, how sad it would be for you if I took you away from lover boy in there," Jason breathed.

Ianto remained silent. Jason released his wrist and moved away. He picked up the washcloth again. "I expect a report of every death that has occurred do to Torchwood since you have been out of commission by the end of this week. Also know that you are on very thin ice, what you did was irresponsible, if word got out about it, it wouldn't only look bad on you but me too, because I trained you to know better," Jason said his voice still quiet. Ianto nodded. Jason put the wash cloth over his face and turned to leave.

"He would find me even if you went through with your threats," Ianto whispered.

Jason turned back to look at the Welshman. "Do you think I am scared of Harkness, I have over 100 Rift children at my command, if we wanted to we could take Torchwood out."

"You wouldn't, imagine you trying to deal with alien threats" Ianto said shaking his head.

That pissed Jason off worse. He walked back to Ianto who tried to back away but was caught easily. Jason held tightly to one of the Welshman's upper arms the other gripping tightly under his chin. "You seem to forget that you are undercover there, you are not one of them, you are a rift child, you have responsibilities to us," Jason growled under his breath then released Ianto pushing him back slightly.

"I will have all the names by the end of the week, you may go now," Ianto growled back then turned to fix his closet. He listened as his bedroom door opened and wiped an angry tear from his face.

"Oh leaving so soon," Ianto heard Jack say in the living room, Jason mumble something in return and then Ianto heard what sounded like a body getting smashed into a wall. He dropped the shirt he was holding and ran to the living room to find Jack holding Jason face first against the door and whispering in his ear. Ianto took a moment to enjoy the scene then went to Jason's rescue.

"Jack let him go," Ianto said calmly Jack growled but backed away. Ianto picked up the washcloth that had fallen to the ground yet again and handed it to Jason before the man turned back around.

"Go," Ianto commanded. Jason glared for a second then left.

Ianto locked the door behind the man then turn to look at Jack. "What did he say," he asked.

"It's not important," Jack said.

"Obviously it was important or you wouldn't have attacked him," Ianto pointed out.

Jack just glared and then shrugged.

"Fine if you don't want to tell me, then leave," Ianto said unlocking the front door.

"He said you belonged to him," Jack blurted out.

"And what did you say to him," Ianto asked. Jack's face paled. Ianto sighed, relocked the front door, and went to sit on the couch. Jack sat down beside him and took his hand.

"You have to understand, I am not usually this possessive," Jack said softly.

Ianto looked at him. "So I guess you said something along the lines of me belonging to you," Ianto whispered trying to keep his voice level. He really didn't want to fight with Jack not so soon after they just made up.

"Yes," Jack said.

"Is that what you want, for me to be yours," Ianto asked.

"No, I just, I don't know Ianto, I'm sorry," Jack stammered out.

"I did belong to him in a way," Ianto said not believing the fact that he was confessing this to Jack. "My life revolved around him, he chose my clothes, he decided when we had sex, he ran every aspect of my life, and what was worse is that I allowed it. I won't do that again."

"I don't want you to," Jack said quickly, "why are you still friends with him, if you don't mind me asking."

Ianto shrugged. "Sometimes life doesn't give you a choice," he said then looked over at Jack, "Can we not talk about this anymore."

Jack nodded. Then leaned forward and softly pressed his lips against Ianto's. Ianto smiled, "how are you feeling."

Jack shrugged, "I've been better."

"I like to watch James Bond movies and eat dark chocolate when I am upset," Ianto said.

Jack smiled. "Yeah, let's do that."

TW-TW-TW

Ianto woke up the next morning wrapped in Jack's arms. He breathed in the man's pheromones and tried to pretend he was still asleep.

"I know you're awake," Jack whispered. Ianto smiled but remained still. "Are you wanting to lie in bed all day," Jack teased.

"No my boss would never allow it," Ianto said continuing not to move.

"I bet he could be persuaded," Jack said against Ianto's ear as his hand ran down the Welshman's side.

"My boss is a man of integrity he would never allow an employee to stay in bed all day in exchange for sexual favors," Ianto said turning to look at Jack's face.

"You don't know your boss very well," Jack said then pressed his lips against Ianto's.

By the time Ianto made it to the shower he had two more orgasms under his belt. He turned on the water and let it fall over his skin. His eyes landed on his red body puff hanging on the cold water handle. He remembered the first time Lisa had seen one like it in his shower. She had been convinced it belonged to another woman and it had taken Ianto 30 minutes to convince her it was his. Ianto let out a half sob half laugh then put his face in his hands and let silent tears fall.

Ianto wasn't sure how long he stood under the water until he felt Jack's arms wrap around him, he turned and rested his head on Jack's shoulder. "Have you washed yet," Jack asked gently.

"No," Ianto sobbed out. Jack took the body puff and put some body wash on it then very gently he began to cleanse Ianto's body. When he finished that he put shampoo in his hands then gently massaged it into Ianto's hair. When all the soap was rinsed off his body, Ianto returned the favor and washed Jack. Then they got out of the shower, dried off, and got dressed only then did Jack pull Ianto in for a chaste kiss.

"Thanks," Ianto said softly.

Jack smiled, "What did I do?"

"Took care of me," Ianto whispered.

"Well washing a sexy Welshman wasn't that hard of a sacrifice," Jack teased.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto and Jack made it to the hub before the others arrived. They sat in Jack's office and drank coffee and talked about normal meaningless things. Ianto loved it. Finally Jack turned the conversation to something more work related.

"There have been 17 disappearances out in the country side in the last 5 months," Jack said looking at a file on his desk.

"Okay, there was more than that in Cardiff the past 3 months," Ianto said feeling stupid for bringing such a thing to Jack's attention.

Jack looked up. "Yeah, but I know the cause of those," Jack said.

"Do you," Ianto asked praying Jack didn't.

"The rift is a two way street, it gives things and it takes thing," Jack said somberly.

"What do you mean?" Ianto asked.

"I will take you on a field trip one day and explain it then. Anyway, we need to figure out the causes of the disappearance in the country, and we need some team bonding time, why not kill two birds with one stone," Jack said with a grin.

"What is your plan sir?" Ianto said.

"Let's go camping," Jack exclaimed.

TW-TW-TW

"I hate the country side," Owen moaned three days later from the passenger seat of the SUV. "It's dirty, it's unhygienic, and what is that smell."

The doctor had been like this ever since they left the hub earlier that day, whining about every little thing. Ianto was trying to ignore him.

"That would be grass," Gwen uttered. Ianto smiled slightly.

"It's disgusting," Owen spat out.

Ianto couldn't help the laugh that came out. God this was going to be a long camping trip, Ianto thought.


	23. Chapter 23

AN: Chapter 23. Countrycide! I love this episode. Okay so I changed it just a bit but nothing to drastic. Well maybe I don't know. Anyway, I hope you all like it. I like it. Okay it will probably be Tuesday before the next chapter is up. Oh by the way, I love all the comments I have been getting. They really motivate me.

Disclaimers: I don't own Torchwood.

Spoilers: Countrycide

Warnings: Curse words, murder, violence.

lj-cut

Ianto ordered 4 cheeseburgers from the roadside vendor as the others stood by the SUV discussing the country side disappearances. He ran is hand over his now bare wrist while he waited. It felt odd not to have the silver bracelet anymore he had gotten used to the feel of it over the last couple of weeks.

"Here ya go mate," said the vendor. Ianto looked up and took the hamburgers from him. He walked over to the others and started to hand them out. Handing Owen his first, the doctor was still complaining.

"Here ya go, careful they're hot," Ianto said as Owen took his burger. He walked over and gave one to Jack and one to Gwen. "Sure you don't want anything Tosh," he asked the petite Asian.

"Really sure, a friend of mine caught hepatitis off a burger from one of these places," Tosh answer just as everyone was taking a bite. Ianto ate his burger despite the fact. Wouldn't it be something to die from an illness instead of some alien attack?

Ianto watched as Jack placed his burger down on the SUV, and chuckled inside. No way was the man really scared of getting sick.

Jack looked down at the map on the hood of the SUV. "We'll start with the most recent victim Ellie Johnson. We last have record of her making a phone call. She dropped out of signal mid-call. The coverage map has her placed somewhere about here," he said pointing to a spot on the map. "Looks as good a place as any to set up camp," he concluded.

"Sorry did you say camp," Owen said in disbelief.

TW-TW-TW

Owen continued to moan as they set up their campsite. It was starting to really get on Ianto's nerves. Ianto came to the conclusion that the doctor needed to get laid, and if someone didn't take care of it soon he was going to take one for the team.

"Oh come on it's just a bit of fun. Who's the last person you snogged," Gwen said to Owen as they were finishing up the set-up of the campsite.

"You even sound like an 8 year old. Who the hell says snog?" Owen teased her.

"Mine was Rhys," Gwen chirped.

"Ya well, there's a surprise," Owen said taking the remark straight from Ianto's thoughts.

"Tosh your go," Gwen said.

Tosh looked nervous. "It's easy for you," Tosh said trying to avoid answering.

"Oh come on, spill the beans," Gwen pestered.

"Owen," Tosh said simply. Ianto smiled. Maybe Tosh could take one for the team.

"What," Owen said as if he had never kissed Tosh. Ianto felt a bit defensive of Tosh, Owen didn't deserve her.

"Really," Gwen said.

"3 am Christmas Eve, in front of the Millennium Centre. Waiting for a cab, I had mistletoe," Tosh said remembering every detail.

Ianto remember that he had just gotten Lisa moved into the hub at Christmas. Now she was dead. He felt that now familiar feeling of emptiness deep in his stomach as he sat down on a cot by the others.

"Chirstmas? You've not had a snog since?" Owen asked softly.

"No," Tosh answered shortly.

"Well lucky me Eh," Owen said.

"So who was yours," Tosh asked Owen.

Owen looked and smiled at Gwen. Gwen's face paled. "Gwen actually," he answered.

Ianto watched Jacks reaction; clearly he still had a thing for Gwen. The pit is Ianto's stomach grew in circumference.

"When was this," Tosh asked clearly upset but trying to be casual. Ianto felt for her, damn Gwen and her stupid game.

"It was complicated," Gwen answered clearly not comfortable. Serves her right, Ianto thought.

"Didn't take you long to get your feet under the table," Tosh said under her breath. Ianto couldn't help but smile.

"What," Gwen said.

"So was it just a kiss or," Tosh began.

"Tosh, leave it," Gwen said cutting the Asian off.

"Jack," Owen said effectively taking the attention off Gwen. Ianto felt his muscles tense, god he was sure he was Jack's last snog. Part of him hoped the man would admit it just to see Gwen's face, but another part of him still didn't feel comfortable with it being out in the open that he shagged the boss.

"Are we including non-human life forms?" Jack asked deflecting the question. Ianto was surprised that the comment made his heart sink. Jack was most likely just respecting Ianto's wishes.

When the others had stopped discussing Jack's off the wall comment Ianto spoke up.

"It's my turn is it? It was Lisa," Ianto said effectively ending everyone's good mood caused by Jack's comment.

"Ianto, I'm sorry," Gwen said actually sounding a bit sincere.

"Sorry she's dead, or sorry you mentioned it," Ianto asked, he could feel Jack's glare.

"I just didn't think," Gwen said. Well there's a surprise, Ianto thought.

"You forgot," Ianto said.

"We should go get some firewood," Owen said attempting to ease the tension.

"I'll give you a hand," Gwen said then they both left the campsite.

Ianto looked up and met Jack's gaze. Yep defiantly a glare. Ianto was the first to look away.

"Ianto can I have a word with you," Jack said as he got up and headed to one of the tents. Ianto reluctantly followed avoiding Tosh's gaze as he did.

As soon as the tent flaps closed behind him Jack pulled Ianto into a demanding kiss. It was amazing and Ianto found himself giving into it instantly. Then he remembered that Jack was supposed to be mad. Apparently he wasn't mad; no this was a possessive kiss. Ianto knew them well; Jason was the king of possessive kisses.

Ianto pushed Jack away. "Are you serious," Ianto said keeping his voice low to keep Tosh from hearing.

"What," Jack said confused.

"I loved her Jack, you can't just kiss me like that and expect me to forget her," Ianto said.

"I don't want you to forget her," Jack said.

"Then what's with the possessive kiss, and don't think I don't know what a possessive kiss feels like, Jason was a master at them," Ianto said.

Jack's expression turned down right scary with the mention of Jason's name. Ianto felt the urge to knell at Jack's feet but he didn't do that anymore for anybody.

Jack pulled Ianto to him by his jacket and looked straight in his eyes. "Never compare me to him again," Jack warned.

"Jack!" Tosh's voice came from the tent's entrance. Jack released Ianto's shirt, then both turned to look at Tosh.

"Gwen and Owen found a body," She said slowly glaring at Jack.

TW-TW-TW

Finding a body had only been the beginning of the night's excitements it seemed. While they were all checking out the body someone stole the SUV. Ianto tracked it with his phone. They walked for over an hour trying to reach it until they came to an abandoned inn. Ianto and Tosh left the others there and headed to find the SUV.

"So going to tell me what that was about back at the tent," Tosh asked as soon as they left the others.

"Nope," Ianto answered.

Tosh huffed.

Soon they arrived at an abandoned building, and then everything went black.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto woke up in an underground cellar. He franticly looked for Tosh; he thought she was dead when he found her. He quickly pulled her limp form into his arms and checked her pulse. He sighed in relief when he felt it was nice and strong. He gently laid her back down then and looked for his gun. It was gone he settled for a hay hook he found on the grown. He then sat near Tosh, holding the hook and determined to protect her.

Tosh started to come around after a few minutes. "You know, I never liked camping," he said to her then watched as she tried to find her gun, "don't bother they took the guns."

"Charming place they've got," Tosh said pulling a flashlight from her shoe.

"Judging by the sound reverberations and the air quality, pretty deep underground," Ianto said, "chances of rescue?"

"We won't need rescuing I haven't met a cell yet I couldn't get out of," Tosh said with confidence.

"What were they," Ianto asked as Tosh began to search the cell.

"Don't know. Happened to quickly, you worried?" Tosh said gently.

Ianto was worried but mostly for her. "A little, that body we saw in the forest," he began but Tosh cut him off.

"Don't think about it, see if you can get that light to work."

Ianto saw excitement in her expression. "You're used to this aren't you? That facial expression you all share when things get a bit out of control. Like you enjoy it, like you get a high from the danger," he said.

"You want me to apologize for that," Tosh snapped.

"Don't you ever wonder how long you can survive, before you go mad or-or get killed or lose a loved one…" Ianto snapped back angry now, at Jack for hiring people to do this job. Tosh only got one life, so did Owen, and Gwen. He and Jack would live forever but the others only had this one.

"It's worth the risk to protect people!" Tosh yelled at Ianto.

"And who protects you!" Ianto yelled back.

They both took a deep breath then.

"God, I'm hungry," Tosh said breaking the silence.

"You should have had that cheeseburger," Ianto teased.

"Not that hungry," Tosh said with a smile. "What's that," she said then shining her flashlight towards the ground.

"You've found something," Ianto asked.

"It's just a shoe, wait there's another, there's dozens of them," Tosh answered shining her light over the shoes.

"Oh my god," Ianto said.

"How many people have been down here?" Tosh asked.

"And what happened to them," Ianto added.

"Is that a fridge," Tosh said then shining her flashlight towards the large appliance. She went up to it opened it then quickly closed it her face holding and expression of pure shock.

"Tosh what is it, what's in there?" Ianto asked but she remained silent, "Tell me," he demanded heading towards the fridge.

"Ianto don't" Tosh said trying to stop him.

Ianto pushed Tosh away, "I wanna know," he said then opened the fridge. It was full of body parts wrapped in plastic.

"That's why there was nothing left on the body. They need to eat, we're food." Tosh said.

Ianto closed the fridge and looked at Tosh. He knew that she would try and save him before herself from whatever these things were. She thought he was just the Tea-boy, not capable to be someone's protector. He had to tell her the truth, so that when he gave her an order she would follow it.

"Tosh, I need to tell you something, and if you make it out of here alive, I need you to carry this secret to the grave. You said you do this to protect people, well what I am about to tell you needs to stay secret in order to protect everything, okay," he said calmly.

"What is it," she said softly.

"I don't know how much time we have, I won't be able to prove it to you, I just need you to believe, okay," Ianto said walking to stand in front of her. She nodded.

"Okay, short version, I am a child of the rift, there is rift energy running through my veins, when I die my body will be taken by the rift. It will then spit me out somewhere else, another time, another place, I don't know, but I will come back to life there. I have extensive training Tosh; please don't try to protect me. Please let me be the one to take the fall, okay save yourself because you won't have another life but I will, Okay," Ianto said as quickly as he could.

Tosh looked at him with wide eyes. "Alright, but if we make it out of this, I will require further explanation," she said. Ianto smiled then nodded.

Tosh walked toward the door to the cell. "Got to be three steel bolts, top, middle, and bottom," she observed.

Ianto walked up next to her. "How are you at calculating target stress points? Find the weakest point bit of brute force," he said trying not to freak out about the fact that he just broke the number one rule of Rift Children.

"Nice thought but it's reinforced," Tosh said. Ianto was happy she wasn't freaking out at his revelation to her.

Ianto started trying to kick the door anyway. He needed to do something. Shortly after he began kicking the door a heavy set woman came and opened it. Eventually she led them by gun point to a rundown house. They entered into what seem to be a dining room.

"In there please," the woman said pointing to a room that had a plastic curtain obstructing it from Ianto's view.

"If you help us we can stop all this, please" Tosh pleaded with the woman.

"I'm sorry, get back," the woman said pushing her gun towards Tosh and Ianto.

"Oh god that stench," Tosh said then she and Ianto looked into the room covered by the plastic, there were bodies hanging from the ceiling and organs in what appear to be pickling jars. "Tell us what these creatures are. Do they look like us?" Tosh said to the woman.

"How else are we gonna look," Said a man entering the room. He was big, and scary. The woman started laughing and then the man gave her a deep kiss. Ianto looked at Tosh and indicated the exit; he then rushed at the kissing couple. The man pushed him to his knees easily and handcuffed his wrists behind his back.

"There are three more out there," the woman said her gun pointed at Tosh.

"Not a problem," the man said then he asked, "how are they."

"There in a good state. I think they're the best we've ever had." the woman said as the man tied Tosh's hands behind her back.

"Oh I forgot to tell you, we caught the boy," the man said as the woman came and knelt beside Ianto. Touching him and looking at him closely. "Come on boy," the man said pulling a teenager out from under a table.

"I won't tell anyone," the boy pleaded

The woman turned Ianto's head towards the struggling boy. "Oh, look" she said.

"Who is he," Tosh asked.

"He's meat," the man said pushing the boy to the ground. The woman laughed in Ianto's ear then sniffed the side of his head then she thankfully backed away. "I'm afraid we're all just meat," the man said then passed by Tosh and Ianto back into the dining room.

"Get ready to run," Ianto said to Tosh as they both struggled to their feet.

"What are you going to do put us on meat hooks," Tosh said as the man returned holding a baseball bat.

"No, not yet. You see meat has to be tenderized first," the man said gently running the baseball bat over Tosh's body. Ianto felt fury rise up inside him. He nodded at Tosh, hoping she would run as he told her to do. Praying she trusted him.

The man walked over to Ianto and looked at him in the face. Ianto smiled at the man, and then promptly head butted him.

Tosh made a run for it. "Go get the others," Ianto yelled after her before the man knocked him to the ground. The woman came then and hit him over the head with the butt of her rifle.

When he came too another man was there and he was gaging Ianto with a dirty rag. "We don't really like to hear the screams," the man said into Ianto's ear before he began to beat him with a baseball bat. Soon Ianto lost consciousness again.

When he came to again someone was gently slapping his face. His body hurt all over and he couldn't really comprehend what was happening. He saw Owen across the room then he felt a blade on his neck. Panic began to set in. Then the room started to shake and the blade was taken away. He was dropped and then someone was holding him up, then gunshots.

When the shots stopped the person holding him gave him to another. It was Owen; Ianto knew it was by the smell of his aftershave. Finally Ianto was able to see what was in front of him. Jack was there holding a gun the leader of the cannibals head. He could hear Gwen shouting but Ianto didn't understand what she was saying. Jack looked up at him then, straight into his eyes, and then his eyes fell slightly. Ianto felt a drip of blood from where the blade had cut his neck; Jack's eyes seemed to follow it. Jack pulled the trigger effectively ending the cannibal's life.

Ianto closed his eyes then and leaned his head back against Owen. He was vaguely aware of more screaming and shouting but soon he was asleep again.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto woke up in the SUV. There was an IV attached to his hand, he felt amazing. He turned his head and saw that Gwen was sitting beside him, she too had an IV. He wondered if she felt amazing to.

"Do feel amazing," he asked her. She turned and looked at him; there were tears on her face. She smiled at him though.

"Not really, love, I got shot," Gwen said.

"I got tenderized," Ianto said then laughed out loud.

"Apparently Owen gave you better drugs than me," Gwen said.

"Don't be jealous. If you ask nicely I am sure he will give you some, I would gladly share meds with you. Not Jack though I won't share him," Ianto said then sleep over took him again.


	24. Chapter 24

AN: Okay chapter 24. I enjoyed writing this chapter. Well I enjoy writing every chapter really. Anyway, I would like to thank everyone for their continued support of this fic. It really motivates me. There is a lot of information about the rift children packed into this chapter. If you still have questions about them after you read this just let me know and I will make sure put the answer in the next chapter. Alright, enjoy.

Disclaimers: I don't own Torchwood.

Spoiler: Countrycide.

Warning: bit of smut, talk of torture, curse words.

\

"Come on Tea-boy, wake up," Ianto heard Owen say. He barely opened his eyes. His body ached, nope waking up didn't seem like a good idea. "You have to wake up," Owen's voice persisted.

"Pain," Ianto managed to choke out.

"I know and as soon as Jack and I get you into your flat I am going to give you more medicine, but we gotta get you in there first," Owen said. Ianto closed his eyes and shook his head.

Ianto heard a car door slam, then the raised voices of Jack and Jason. He opened his eyes to find himself staring at Owen. "Who's that," Owen asked.

"Jason," Ianto murmured then closed his eyes again.

Ianto heard Owen's raised voice a moment later saying something about moving Ianto. Then to Ianto's horror he was gently lifted out of the SUV. It hurt like hell. He locked eyes with Jason. "You would have been proud," he whispered then winced. Jason nodded with a slight smile.

The next thing Ianto knew he was waking up in his bed. He was still in pain, but he needed to pee. With all his strength he pushed himself into a sitting position. Jason was sitting beside the bed in a folding chair and he was asleep.

"Hey," Jack's voice said on Ianto's other side. Ianto turned his head toward him.

"I need to pee," Ianto said.

"Okay, let me remove your IV first then I will help you to the bathroom," Jack said getting up and moving to the side of the bed. He grabbed a cotton ball and some paper tape from the side table. He sat down softly next to Ianto on the bed and gently removed the IV. Ianto was in too much pain to notice that a drop of blood fell onto his crisp white sheets.

"Are all my bones broken," Ianto moaned as Jack helped him to the bathroom.

"No Owen said you are just bruised all over, at first he thought one of your ribs was cracked but he used the Bekaran deep-tissue scanner and saw that it wasn't. Just bruises," Jack said.

"Of course a broken bone would have ruined the meat," Ianto said bitterly.

Jack didn't respond.

Jack and Ianto returned from the bathroom to find Jason changing the sheets on Ianto's bed.

"Why are you doing that, Owen said he didn't need to be on his feet," Jack snapped.

"Well you got blood on the bed," Jason snapped back.

"It was only a drop," Jack said.

Ianto felt like a child stuck between two protective parents who happened to hate each other's guts. "I don't want to lie on the bed, take me to the couch, and I need more pain medicine," Ianto said through gritted teeth.

Jason looked up from what he was doing and glared at Jack, "How long has he been awake?"

"15 minutes at the most," Jack said.

"You should have given him the oral meds first thing, that's 15 minutes longer that he will be in pain," Jason growled.

Ianto closed his eyes and leaned his head on Jack's shoulder waiting for Jack to growl back at Jason, but the rebuttal didn't come.

"Get him to the couch, I will get his meds," Jason said then with a sigh.

Ianto winced as he lay down on the couch. The bruises on his back throbbed. Jack place a pillow under his feet and then covered him with a soft blanket. Jason walked in with the medicine. He bent down next to the couch.

"Here ya go, this third pill is bromelain, you remember it," Jason said gently.

"Yep, helps bruises heal faster," Ianto said then took the pills.

Jason looked up at Jack. "Go get the vitamin K cream and put it on him, I am going to go get some food for him," he said in an overly civil manner. Jack nodded and headed back into the bedroom.

"I am not hungry," Ianto pouted.

"Too bad, I am going to get you a leafy green salad, and some oranges, do you want anything else," Jason said.

"I hate leafy green salads," Ianto pouted.

"You are going to eat it," Jason warned.

"Fine," Ianto stated then looked away.

"Why would I be proud? Not that I am not always proud but why in this instance," Jason asked.

"What are you talking about," Ianto said still pouting.

"When we brought you into the flat from the SUV, you said I would have been proud," Jason said.

Ianto looked towards his bedroom door to see if Jack was coming back, he wasn't. "I didn't even scream as they beat me, they put a gag on me before told me it was because they didn't like the screams, but I could see it in the bastard's eyes that he loved the screams. So I didn't give it to him. Just like you taught me, never give them what they want."

Jason smiled then sighed, "Iden told me two days ago, I tried to leave the house to prevent it and they restrained me, locked me in my own basement…" Jason said then his voice cracked. Ianto saw a tear run down his guardian's cheek and he gently wiped it away.

"You want me to put some Bond on," Jason asked softly after a moment. Ianto nodded.

As Jason was putting on the movie Jack came back in with the vitamin K cream. He gently removed the blanket that was covering Ianto and then helped Ianto out of his t-shirt and track bottoms leaving him in only his boxers. Ianto laid on his stomach so Jack could put cream on his back first. Jack began to gently massage the cream into the bruises.

"Jason's going to make me eat vegetables," Ianto complained to Jack.

"They will help you heal faster Yanni, you are going to eat them," Jason snapped then pressed play on the DVD remote.

"How do you know so much about curing bruises," Jack asked calmly.

"He is a martial arts instructor, he has to know," Ianto said before Jason could answer.

"Right well I will be back shortly, you better still be on that couch when I get back, even if you aren't in pain, got it," Jason said to Ianto. Ianto nodded.

"Okay what's wrong with you," Ianto said to Jack as soon as the door shut behind Jason.

"Nothing," Jack said as he helped Ianto turn onto his back.

Ianto raised his eyebrows. "Okay, we will come back to that question. How is Tosh?"

"She is fine, thanks to you," Jack said then smiled at Ianto. "Hero of the day, you are," Jack teased.

"Good," Ianto said relieved. "Okay, so why is Jason here?" Ianto then asked.

"He showed up when we got to your flat. He took one look at you and started yelling at me. I told him it was a pub fight; he said things like that didn't happen when you were with him…" Jack began.

"I wasn't allowed to go to pubs," Ianto interrupted.

Jack smiled then continued, "He's right, I should have…"

"Should have what Jack, seen the future? It wasn't your fault, and this is the last time I want to hear you blaming yourself, got it!" Ianto said interrupting Jack again.

"Okay," Jack said leaning up closer to Ianto's face and gently kissing his lips. Ianto put his hand behind Jack's head to hold him there.

"I want you," Ianto whispered against the immortals lips.

"Not today, there is not an inch of you that's not bruised," Jack said gently.

"There's about 7 inches that aren't bruised," Ianto pouted.

"Yeah," Jacks said removing Ianto's hand. He bent down and kissed a small space between bruises on Ianto chest, "There's 1," he moved to a space below Ianto belly button. "There's 2," he said gently sucking on the skin he lingered there for a minute looking up into Ianto's eyes then moved up to Ianto's neck. "3" he whispered then kissed above the small cut, "4" He kissed below the cut. He moved to Ianto's nose, "5" he said gently biting it. "6," He said placing a kiss on Ianto's cheek, "and 7," he said then captured Ianto's lips again.

"You are such a fucking tease," Ianto pouted when Jack moved away.

"Yep," Jack said running a thumb tenderly over Ianto's bottom lip. Jack gaze fell to Ianto's boxers, "but I always take care of the problems my teasing causes," he smirked then moved to sit directly in front of the problem he caused. He gently removed Ianto's erection from his boxers, softly stroking it and watching Ianto's reaction. Ianto moaned and then attempted to buck up into Jack's hand. He winced at the movement.

Jack removed his hand. "If you want me to do this you need to stay still, I don't want you to be in pain," he said gently.

"I'll stay still, I promise," Ianto said.

Jack replaced his hand and gently stroked Ianto a few more times before leaning forward and taking him in to his mouth. He sucked gently at first; Ianto closed his eyes and let out small moans of pleasure. It didn't take long until Jack was increasing his pace and taking Ianto to the edge. Ianto cried out when his orgasm hit him but managed to remain still as Jack swallowed everything he gave him.

Jack grinned at Ianto as he gently tucked him back into his boxers. "Enjoy that did you?" Jack teased.

"Always," Ianto said sleepily. "I may pass out again though," he yawned.

Jack kissed Ianto gently. "That's okay, you need to sleep."

TW-TW-TW

Ianto woke up some time later to see Tosh sitting in one of his armchairs.

"Tosh," Ianto said gently to get her attention. She looked over and smiled at him.

"Hey, Jack had to go help Owen with something, he will be back," she said gently.

Ianto nodded, "What about Jason?" he asked.

"I am here," Ianto heard Jason yell from the kitchen. He walked into the living room a few minutes later holding a bowl of salad, a bottle of water, and a small container of pills. He sat down in front of Ianto. Ianto quickly rose up into more of a sitting position.

"Take these, drink this whole thing, then eat this," Jason ordered. Ianto nodded. Jason sat in the other arm chair beside Tosh.

Once Ianto was finished with his water and was eating his salad he broke the silence, "I had to tell her, Jason."

Jason looked at him. "What?" Jason said his voice stern.

"I had to, so I could protect her," Ianto said.

Jason looked at Tosh who was wide eyed. "Number one rule, Ianto!" Jason yelled standing up and beginning to pace. Ianto closed his eyes.

"I know, she won't tell, I trust her," Ianto said his voice small.

Jason rubbed a hand over his face, "You think Iden would have warned me about this," Jason whined out then removed his hand , grabbed coffee mug from the side table, and slammed it into the wall, causing Tosh and Ianto to flinch. "Fuck," he yelled then turned to look directly at Ianto. "What do you think the punishment for breaking the number one rule would be, in a hypothetical situation of course, because you still think you are above things like rules?"

"Relocation," Ianto said his voice trembling a bit. If Jason decided to do that then Tosh would be killed too and the whole reason for coming clean would go out the window.

Jason sighed, "No that's not going to happen. God Ianto, what part of 'you're on thin ice' did you not understand?"

"I had no other option Jason," Ianto said.

"You didn't, oh well," Jason said his tone sarcastic, "You could have let her die. You aren't supposed to be friends with them Ianto, you are there for one reason, to prevent them from finding out about us. Well you fucked that up didn't you?"

"She's not going to tell," Ianto yelled.

"How do I know that? This is a big security risk," Jason said then looked at Tosh, "You want to know the last time I took out someone who wasn't a rift child?" Tosh just shook her head her eyes wide with fear.

"You know Iden will vouch for her. Please Jason," Ianto begged.

Jason looked at Ianto for a second then back to Tosh, "If you tell them, I will take you all out. I know everything about all of you. Where you live, what type of car you drive, down to how you take your coffee. Got it!"

"Of course," Tosh said nodding.

"I have to go; I will come see how you are doing tomorrow. Continue to use that cream, and to take your meds." Jason said walking over to Ianto and gently kissing his forehead.

"Okay," Ianto said.

"So I am sure you have questions," Ianto said as soon as Jason left.

"About a million," Tosh said.

"Okay, shoot," Ianto said.

"How did you become a Rift Child?" Tosh asked.

"My mother was exposed to a high level of rift energy while she was pregnant with me. It's kind of like when a woman gets an x-ray while pregnant. The radiation may have no effect on the woman but could cause radiation poisoning for the fetus," Ianto said.

"But every pregnant woman in Cardiff is probably exposed to rift energy at one point or another. Are they all rift children now?" Tosh asked.

"No, it takes a lot of energy, and it doesn't always infect the child. Just like how not every child whose mother received an x-ray gets radiation poisoning." Ianto answered.

"Oh I see, I bet I could figure out how to recreate the process in a controlled environment," Tosh said with a bit of excitement.

"Oh how convenient you have figured out the reason we remain hidden from society," Ianto deadpanned. Tosh looked confused. "Tosh, you can't figure out how to do it okay, if all of the sudden every child born was a rift child the whole of time and space would be at risk. Once all those children grow and die their first death then they all go off into the universe somewhere, another time another place, it would cause mass chaos, just because of the mass amount of people. It would screw with history and the future and eventually lead to the destruction of the universe."

"Yes I see of course. I promise not to do any experiments," Tosh said gently.

"Good," Ianto said smiling at her.

"So who is Iden and why would he vouch for me," Tosh asked.

Ianto bit his lip, "he is me," Ianto said quickly and quietly.

"What?" Tosh said.

Ianto looked up at her. "He is me, future, older, wiser, me," Ianto stated.

"Wow! Have you met him? I mean you?" Tosh said in disbelief.

"Yes, but only once, when we changed rift leaders around a month ago," Ianto said.

Tosh looked at Ianto in awe. Ianto couldn't help but feel her excitement and for some reason telling her all this made him feel free so he continued. "Okay, and get this. Iden is married, to a really hot girl, Aria, and they have a baby, Ruby. That is my future wife and child. It's unreal really, every time I think about it I get a head ache."

Ianto and Tosh looked at each other for a second then both burst out loud with laughter, beautiful tension releasing laughter.

"How do you prevent yourself from going crazy," Tosh said after they stopped laughing.

"I just live everyday like I don't know things about my future, like I don't know that future me is out there, keeping peace between the separate rifts. I will have to deal with that eventually, why worry about it now," Ianto answered.

Tosh smiled. "So you said you changed rift leaders, what does that mean?"

"Well there are several rifts on earth right now, every one of them has a leader, a second in command, and then various assistants, undercover agents, guardians, spotters, and the list goes on.

"Okay leader, obviously leads the rift," Tosh said, Ianto nodded. "Second in command helps the leader, what do the assistants do?"

"Assist," Ianto teased. "No, their jobs vary; there are always two or three of them at headquarters. They are strictly there to help the leader and the second in command, food, drink, setting up meetings all that stuff. There's another group of assistants that will assign trainees to guardians, and are in charge of our database, which has the names of all the rift children in Cardiff and London."

"I see, what about undercover agent, I mean I know you are one but what about the others," Tosh said.

"Well we have some in the police, some at hospitals, in the council; we have a ton in London, in parliament, the police there, also UNIT, at Buckingham palace, the list goes on," Ianto said casually.

"So you are everywhere," Tosh said.

"Just to protect ourselves," Ianto said a bit defensive.

Tosh nodded, "what are guardians?" She asked.

"They train new Rift Children, and old ones to, like if someone comes through and didn't know they were a rift child. Jason was mine," Ianto said.

"And spotters?" Tosh asked.

"They work to find rift children, we can sense each other, it's kind of like a little rush of adrenaline goes through our veins. Spotter's tone that ability. They can sense others easier, so they find them and put them in the database. Usually we don't get trained until at least 16 but sometimes there are ways to begin training earlier," Ianto said.

"Oh I see, I was wondering how you knew you were one," Tosh said. "You said that future you keeps peace among the Rifts, what does that mean?" Tosh asked.

"Well he is the Minister of the Rifts, which basically means he has control over all of them, top of the chain if you will," Ianto said nonchalantly.

"Oh, way to go Ianto," Tosh said with a smile.

Their conversation came to an end because the door to the flat opened to reveal Jack, Gwen, and Owen.

"Oh Tea-boy where are your clothes," Owen complained setting a couple of boxes of pizzas on the coffee table.

Ianto rolled his eyes. "It's easier if I just wear my boxers because I have to put that cream on every so often and it hurts to take my shirt off," he spat at Owen.

"Alright, no need to get snippy." Owen said raising his hands in surrender.

They all sat around eating , joking, and actually doing a little team bonding, which had been Jack's actual reason for wanting to go on the camping trip from hell.

Gwen left first after receiving a call from Rhys. Tosh and Owen left soon after that. Jack helped Ianto take a shower, put more cream on his bruises, and then helped him into the now blood free bed.

"Don't leave," Ianto said franticly as Jack headed towards the bed room door.

"I'm just turning off the light," Jack said with a grin, he did and then he slid into bed next to Ianto gently shifting them into a spooning position. "Gwen is mad at me for killing the leader of the cannibals," Jack whispered, "I had to though, I looked up and saw what he did to you, and what he was about to do to you. I couldn't stop my finger from pulling the trigger. I need you Ianto, and he almost took you from me."

"I need you too Jack," Ianto said gently then let sleep overtake him.


	25. Chapter 25

AN: Chapter 25. Greeks bearing gifts, I hope you all like it. There is some smut. Remember to comment, I live off them.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

Rating: MA

Spoilers: Greeks Bearing Gifts

Warnings: M/M, cruse words

Ianto woke from a nightmare with a start. His breathing was ragged and his heart rate was through the roof. "It's okay, I'm here," Jack said beside him in bed. Ianto felt the man's hand on his back.

"They're never going to end are they, I will live with them forever," Ianto managed to say. He closed his eyes again to try and keep the tears that always came after a nightmare at bay.

"Tell me," Jack said gently rubbing Ianto's back.

"I wish I could Jack," Ianto said gently shaking his head and getting out of the bed. He went straight to his bathroom and turned the shower on as hot as it would go. He sighed when he stepped under the water and it began to rinse away the sweat the nightmare had caused. It was Sarah Higgins he dreamed of tonight, he was certain he would remember the young girl's pleas to be spared forever.

Ianto felt cold air hit him as Jack got into the shower. As expected Jack engulfed him in an embrace from behind. "God this water is hot are you trying to burn yourself," Jack complained against Ianto's ear.

"Can't take the heat get out of my shower," Ianto teased leaning his head back so Jack had more access to his neck.

Jack sucked gently below Ianto's ear and then gently nipped. "Why can't you tell me," he whispered.

"Can we not do this Jack," Ianto said pulling away from Jack and grabbing the shampoo. He put some in his hair and lathered it, then began to rinse it under the shower head. He startled when he felt Jack touch him again this time with a washcloth. The older man carefully washed Ianto's body, the bruises had mostly faded in the last month and they didn't hurt anymore. Ianto looked at him timidly. "We could always…" Ianto began.

"No, we need to get to work before Tosh, wouldn't want her to see us show up together, might make her think we were serious about each other, which obviously we aren't being as we can't confide in each other," Jack said his voice the picture of a whining child.

"Yes Jack wouldn't want that," Ianto growled pushing Jacks hand away and beginning to rinse the soap off his body. He got out of the shower then without another word. They actually didn't talk to each other the rest of the morning. They made it to the hub before Tosh.

"Hey," Tosh said leaning against the counter as Ianto made coffee. He smiled at her. "So how was your night," she asked casually.

"Tosh, I really don't want to talk about anything right now," Ianto snapped at her, then instantly regretted it. "Sorry, it's not you."

Tosh nodded, "Its fine, no problem," she smiled softly then went down to her desk.

Ianto finished making coffee then headed to the archives. It was nearly an hour later that his comms unit came to life. "Ianto we are headed to a construction site," was all Jack said. Ianto didn't bother to reply.

He started trying to make it through his to-do list. He opened an email from the UNIT commander addressed to Jack. Apparently the prime minister was briefing other leaders about the goings on at Torchwood and there was some list UNIT needed. He printed off the email to give to Jack later.

Ianto went to the main hub to do some much needed cleaning. The team returned just as he finished sanitizing the med bay. Owen and Jack sat a body bag on the table Ianto had just sanitized. He tried not to show his annoyance.

"Good you're in cleaning mode," Jack said with a smile, "Gwen and Tosh just put a piece of alien tech in the armory, I have decided to call it a stapler" he paused Ianto looked at him with a blank face that gave nothing away. Jack waved Owen out of the med bay. "Anyway would you mind thoroughly cleaning it for me?"

"Of course sir," Ianto said as he began to gather his cleaning supplies.

"Ianto I hate when you are mad at me," Jack pouted. Ianto just raised his eyebrow as if to suggest for Jack to continue.

"Look I am sorry okay, it was wrong of me to push you to tell me. Now please forgive me," Jack said.

Ianto sighed and took a step closer to Jack so he could lower his voice and the others wouldn't hear. "It's not like you share with me Jack, but it is apparently a crime that I don't want to relive my nightmares with you."

"I said I was sorry," Jack bellowed. Ianto gave him a warning glare. Fighting at the hub in front of the others was still against the rules. Jack let out a frustrated growl and left. No doubt to go stand on the roof.

Ianto went to the armory where Gwen and Tosh had placed the big stapler. He started to gently clean away the dirt. Tosh came in and leaned beside him at the table.

"I am pretty sure Owen and Gwen are sleeping together," Tosh said bitterly.

"I'm sorry," Ianto said not looking away from his task.

"It's okay not your fault," Tosh said with a sigh she then looked at him and smiled. "So my secret agent friend," she said using the nickname he liked a lot better than Tea-boy, "do you have any super powers with all that rift energy running through you?"

"Other than making excellent coffee, nope," Ianto said looking up to make sure it was only Tosh close by. "I will though, well kind of once I start my second life, I will be stronger, I won't ever get the flu again, and I will have accelerated healing."

"Well that's neat," Tosh said.

Ianto looked up at her and narrowed his eyes, "There is nothing neat about being like this Tosh," he said somberly. "Looks like Owen and Gwen are messing with your computer." Tosh hurried out of the room.

Ianto finished cleaning the giant stapler as best as he could there was no fixing the amount of rust that had built up on the metal object.

Once Ianto left the armory Jack had returned from his tantrum run. Ianto went to the archives and retrieved the papers Jack needed to look at then made two cups of coffee and went to the older man's office. He sat Jacks coffee in front of him on the desk and sat his own on the opposite side so he could reach it from the seat in front of Jack's desk.

"Okay," Ianto said opening the file. "You got an email from an Alice Carter, I didn't read it but I printed it for you, I know you don't like to read off of computer screens." Ianto sat the first paper down by Jack. Jack muttered a thank you.

"Alright this next email is going to piss you off," Ianto muttered Jack looked up from his coffee. "UNIT has informed us that the Prime Minister is debriefing other leaders about our activities."

"Cut off the Prime Minister," Jack said.

"Sir, I am only speaking for myself when I say this but I am sure the others would agree. As much as I love working here I won't do it for free, and 'cutting off' the Prime Minister will most likely cause us to lose funding," Ianto said.

"The Queen funds us," Jack retorted.

"It's cute that you think that really, but no she doesn't, not anymore, not since the early 60's," Ianto said. It was a wonder that Jack was the director of Torchwood and didn't know that.

"Fine I will call the bastard tomorrow," Jack pouted.

Ianto told Jack about the list UNIT was still badgering them for and Jack said he would get Tosh to do it. Ianto pick up the now empty coffee mugs and was about to leave the office when Jack spoke. "Am I still invited to yours tonight?"

Ianto looked at Jack and nodded. Ianto couldn't help but smile when a grin filled Jacks face.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto was pleasantly surprised when Jack pushed him against the door to his flat as soon as it closed behind them. It had been a long day for both of the men and Ianto was more than willing to lose himself in the older man. In fact he was sure he would have a mental breakdown if he didn't achieve that goal in the next five minutes.

Jack let out a deep growl when he pulled away and started to desperately pull Ianto's clothes off.

"I need this so fucking bad," Jack moaned as soon as Ianto was nude in front of him. Ianto let out a cry when Jack dropped to his knees and instantly took the Welshman into his mouth. Ianto leaned his head back against the door and marveled at how amazingly good Jack was at giving head. He laced his fingers in Jack's hair and tried unsuccessfully to keep quiet. Pretty soon he found his release and Jack swallowed it down like the professional he was.

Jack stood up and crashed his lips against Ianto's forcing his tongue into the younger man's mouth and exploring every inch. Ianto moaned into it. Jack was equally good at kissing. Ianto felt his member start to come back to life after only a few seconds. Jack pulled away just an inch. "I am going to make you cum at least three more times tonight baby," he breathed out. Ianto didn't doubt it.

Jack picked up Ianto in a fireman's hold and took him to the bedroom dropping him onto the bed gently. "Stay," Jack demanded.

"Going to be one of those nights is it?" Ianto teased as he arranged himself into the center of the bed and watched as Jack stripped in front of him. He was fully erect by the time the man was naked.

"I want to tie you up," Jack said his tone questioning. Ianto nodded and watched as Jack went to his closet and pulled out two ties. He came back to the bed and straddled Ianto. Ianto moaned at the feeling of Jack naked on top of him. Jack grabbed Ianto's wrists and used one of the ties to bind them together he then pushed them over Ianto's head and used the other tie to secure them to the bed. Ianto realized that this way Jack would be able to easily flip him over and not have to untie him.

Jack got off the bed and pulled Ianto's body down slightly diminishing the slack in the tie. He grinned down at Ianto. "You like being tied up don't you," Jack teased.

"As long as it's with you," Ianto said.

Jack smiled; "I am flattered," Jack said still staring at Ianto.

"Jack would you fuck me already," Ianto said. Jack nodded.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto dreamed of Sarah Higgins again that night. He couldn't understand that of all the terrible things that he had been through his part in the relocation of Sarah Higgins was the one thing his mind continued to taunt him with.

He ran in to Tosh the next morning when he was on the way to get breakfast for Jack and the others. She seemed out of sorts, he was going to ask her but by the time he came back from getting his keys out of the small storage are she had descended into the hub. He made a mental note to tell Jack about it.

Ianto's phone rang when he got into his car after procuring some pastries. It was Jason.

"Ianto Jones," Ianto said into the receiver.

"I need your help tomorrow," Jason said instead of a normal greeting.

"You know I have a job right," Ianto said.

"Yes, and I wouldn't bother you but, Iden had to make an unexpected trip out of town and he was going to help me with a small demonstration for a few of my younger students tomorrow, I know how much you hate to disappoint children," Jason said.

Ianto was dumbfounded he was sure this was going to be Rift business, but instead it was helping Jason with his most recent cover job. "Okay, what time?" Ianto answered.

"Get to the studio at about 10," Jason said then hung up.

Ianto looked at the phone. "Well I love you too," Ianto said sarcastically to the phone.

Ianto passed out the pastries when he got to the hub. His last stop was to Jack's office where he handed the man a take-away coffee and the remaining pastries. He sat down opposite the desk and drank his own coffee.

"Something's wrong with Tosh," Ianto said after a few moments.

"Like what," Jack said licking his fingers clean. He chuckled when his looked up to find Ianto staring at his mouth.

"I don't know, she just seems jumpy and out of sorts, like she is hiding something," Ianto said embarrassed slightly at being caught watching Jack.

Jack put his head in his hands. "I will look into it," he said his voice muffled.

"Also, I need the day off tomorrow," Ianto said casually.

"Why," Jack said looking up at Ianto.

"Jason needs help with a martial arts demonstration, it's for children," Ianto said paying close attention to his cuff link all of the sudden.

"So would this demonstration require him to touch you," Jack said.

"Yes," Ianto answered.

"Then no you may not have the day off," Jack said simply.

"Yeah, well I am taking it anyway," Ianto said glaring at Jack.

"If you were going to do it anyway, why did you ask," Jack said he was glaring back.

They sat in an awkward silence for a minute.

"This coffee is crap," Jack said breaking the silence.

"I will make you some," Ianto said getting up and leaving the office.

Ianto thought about how angry he was with Jack, and about how much he was still grieving over Lisa, and his terrible nightmares that lately focused on Sarah Higgins. He felt like there wasn't an inch of him that didn't hurt.

Tosh was sitting at the small table near the coffee machine. She looked upset. "I'm about to brew some of Jack's industrial strength coffee, would you like a cup?" Ianto asked her.

"I'm fine, thanks Ianto," Tosh said gently not sounding fine at all. Ianto hoped Jack figured out what was wrong with her soon. Tosh was fast becoming his confidant and he couldn't bear to lose her too.

TW-TW-TW

"Okay guys Ianto is going to come at me again and I am going to use a different technique to throw him to the ground," Jason said. Ianto hesitated in his fake attack. Jason had already thrown him onto the mat 4 times Ianto wasn't really looking forward to the 5th.

Jason raised his eyebrows at Ianto's hesitation; Ianto sighed and went on with it. Not three seconds later Ianto was on the mat again. He felt like the wind had been knocked out of him.

"Alright guy's I think that is enough demonstration for today partner up and let see how you do with some actual practice," Jason said. Ianto sighed in relief. Jason helped Ianto to his feet. "I think you need a refresher course Jones," Jason teased.

Ianto dusted off his track bottoms. "Yeah, maybe," Ianto admitted.

"It's probably because you aren't naked, you were through most of your personal martial arts training," Jason whispered into Ianto's ear so the children wouldn't hear. Ianto couldn't help the slight blush that came to his cheeks.

Once the class was over Ianto helped with the clean-up then went and collected some take out for the two to eat for lunch. They sat in chairs behind the registration counter as they ate.

"This is nice," Jason said after taking a bite of his fried rice.

Ianto looked up and raised his eye brow in question. Jason smiled, "You could almost believe that we were totally normal. Just two regular guys who own a martial arts studio, who will maybe grow old together, adopt a kid; die in each other's arms."

"That would be a great life," Ianto mused. "Grass is always greener on the other side though isn't it?"

"I would be dust if I was normal," Jason said, "It's nice to pretend sometimes."

"Yeah, if it was true the only thing we would need to worry about would be what to make for dinner," Ianto said.

"Oh I think I will let you take on that task you are a better cook then me," Jason teased.

"Yes, that is probably best, I remember when you tried to poison me my first week with you," Ianto said.

"I cooked that chicken for two hours," Jason protested.

The two finished their food and then Jason had a private class with a very pretty girl. Ianto did some book keeping for Jason then with a casual wave into the class room area Ianto left the studio.

Ianto spent the next 3 hours cleaning his flat he knew he should probably head back to the hub but he and Jack were still mad at each other. Jack was mad because Ianto had gone through with his threat and had taken the day off despite the fact that Jack had told him no. Ianto was mad because Jack was being possessive and Jack knew how much Ianto didn't like that.

When his flat was perfectly clean Ianto had a sandwich then took a shower. His phone rang as soon as he got out. It was Jack.

"Ianto Jones," Ianto said.

"I need you to come to the hub, I am pretty sure Tosh is dating an alien," was the only thing Jack said. Only with Torchwood, Ianto thought as he hung up the phone and started to put his suit on.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto sat at the board table going over Tosh's experience with her and filling out the report. He could relate to the pain she was feeling right now. Jack had killed her girlfriend. It was unavoidable but Ianto knew that didn't help matters in Tosh's eyes just like it hadn't help in Ianto's eyes after Lisa.

Ianto was curious to know what thoughts Tosh may have picked up from him these last few days when she had the ability to read minds. He didn't ask though, she was too upset. Once the report was finished Ianto gently placed hand on hers.

"I am sorry Tosh," he said gently.

"I think you are my only friend here," Tosh sobbed out.

"That can't be true," Ianto said, "Owen cares for you, I know he does."

Tosh shook her head, "he has an odd way of showing it." She sighed. "We need to tell Jack about you," Tosh said then surprising Ianto with the change of subject.

"No," Ianto said firmly.

"Ianto he isn't going do anything," Tosh said, "He will understand why we have to keep it a secret just like I do."

Ianto narrowed his eyes, "Tosh I can calculate at least 4 ways to end your life right now and make it look like and accident."

Tosh stood up, "Yes Ianto that's exactly what I need right now a death threat from my best friend," she said, "I won't say anything until you want to, I never would."

Ianto felt ashamed, "Tosh I…" was all he managed to get out before she left the room. Ianto put his head in his hands and growled into them. God he screwed that up royally. Now not only was Jack pissed at him but so was Tosh.

He got up after a minute and went to put the new file away in the archives. When he got back to the main hub no one was there. He left through the tourist office. A bright flash of light shocked him as he was locking the door. He turned towards the source, shielding his eyes with his arms.

"Oh this is just what I fucking need," Ianto said out loud as the light left and was replaced with a naked and obviously scared Sarah Higgins.


	26. Chapter 26

AN: Okay, so I have decided that in this fic, Canary Wharf happened in July 2006. There are some flashbacks in this one which means a lot of Jason. Hope you all like it. Next chapter should be up either Wednesday or Thursday.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

Rating: R or MA

Warnings: Smut, M/M

Spoilers: none, I don't think

May 2000

Ianto was fearful as he sat in the passenger's seat of the yellow Land Rover. He had so much information running through his head. Apparently he was a Child of the Rift according to the man driving the Land Rover and the little girl who spoke as if she was an old woman. He didn't want to believe them, but the slight rush he felt around them made it impossible to dismiss. Of course he supposed it could just be some kind of drug.

Ianto shifted in his seat trying to relive the pressure on his cuffed hands that were behind his back. He had tried to make a run for it when they were leaving the Victorian house. The man had caught him easily.

"I wouldn't have had to do that if you hadn't run," the man said. Ianto turned his head and looked out the window. "So… I am not happy about this either to tell you the truth, I just got finished training my last charge, I was hoping for a break," Ianto remained quiet the man continued speaking, "my name is Jason, not that you will call me that, you need to call me Sir."

Ianto shifted again and tried to hold in the tears that were threatening to fall. He just wanted to go to London, which had been his plan. Run away from home, head to London, get a job. That was the plan then this man had grabbed him and now he was stuck in Cardiff.

"So I am going to go ahead and let you do the silent thing tonight, but tomorrow you will answer me when I speak," Jason said.

Ianto rolled his eyes. Jason slammed on the brakes causing Ianto to jolt forward in his seat. Thankfully the seatbelt worked.

"What the hell is your problem," Ianto yelled. He was pretty sure it was the first thing he had said to the man.

Jason turned in his seat, grabbed Ianto's face by the chin, and turned it to look straight at him. "Do not roll your eyes at me got it," Jason said calmly. Ianto remained silent for a moment. How had the man even seen the eye roll? Then just to show he had spirit and wouldn't be pushed around he rolled his eyes again. Jason let go of his face and slapped him hard.

Ianto fell back against the seat in shock. Jason started to drive again. Ianto let silent tears fall.

Ianto shifted again when Jason turned onto a gravel drive. They passed a sign that said Sim's Home for Wayward Teens. Ianto suppressed the urge to roll his eyes again. At the end of the drive was a large and daunting house. Jason pulled to the side of it and parked the SUV in a three car garage. Automatic lights came on and Ianto squinted his eyes shut. Jason got out of the vehicle and came around to the passenger's side. Ianto was scared shitless. He had been kidnapped, and now he was in the middle of nowhere with a man who had just slapped him. Ianto could see the red handprint on his face in the side view mirror.

Jason opened the passenger door and reached around Ianto to unbuckle his seat belt. Ianto was trembling with fear. Jason pulled him out of the car then shut the door. Ianto was led through a laundry room, a kitchen, a dining room, an entry way and then finally up a flight of stairs. Jason stopped them in front of a door that had a pad lock on it. He fished around on his key ring then opened the door.

Inside the room was a full bed that had white sheets, no duvet, and a single pillow. There was a wardrobe on one wall next to a door that probably led to an on suite bathroom; on the opposite wall was a row of empty book shelves.

"This is your new home," Jason said pulling Ianto fully into the room and closing the bedroom door. Ianto felt panic set in when he heard the click that indicated the door was shut and he was locked in the small space with this man. "You only have two rights while you are under my care. One you will be feed three meals a day and two you will get at least eight glasses of water, everything else is a privilege that I can take away as I see fit," Jason said then he uncuffed Ianto and left the room. Ianto jumped when he heard the pad lock click shut.

End of May 2007

Ianto watched as Sarah's eyes adjusted to the dark and he saw the precise moment when she recognized who he was. She took a fearful step back then fell to her knees as sobs overtook causing her whole body to shake. She put her hands over her head as if he was holding a gun to her. He walked up to her.

"Stand up and drop your arms," Ianto whispered. Sarah scrambled to her feet quickly. Ianto took his jacket off and handed it to her. She put it on.

"Please," was the only coherent word she said as Ianto led her quickly to his car. Ianto sat her in the passenger seat and buckled her in because she was too distraught to do it. He pulled a pair of hand cuffs out of the glove department and cuffed her to the passenger door handle. She started crying even harder.

"I am sorry I have to cuff you, I have to because I don't know if I can trust you not to do something stupid, Okay," Ianto said attempting to wipe away some of the tears on her cheeks. She nodded.

Ianto got in the driver's seat and began to drive towards Jason's house. After five minutes Sarah stopped crying Ianto looked over and saw she had fallen asleep. Ianto let out a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding.

Ianto parked in front of the mansion and got out. He opened the passenger door and unlocked the cuffs. Sarah opened her eyes. He smiled at her nervously as he unbuckled her and then pulled her out of the car quickly turning her around and securing her hands behind her back. Her sobs started back up. Ianto felt bad but he really couldn't take any risks.

Ianto used his spare key and opened the front door of the massive home. When they entered the house it was all dark, everyone was asleep. Ianto closed the door and locked it. Ianto didn't know what to do with Sarah while he got Jason. Taking her to his room with him was out of the question. Leaving her unattended was out of the question too, his future child was asleep in this house and there was no doubt that Sarah was desperate and desperate people do desperate things. He did the only thing he could think of. He unlocked one of her wrists and cuffed her to the ornate door handle. She sat down on the floor and pulled Ianto's jacket tighter around her.

"I will be right back, okay," Ianto said. Sarah nodded but didn't look at him.

Ianto walked up to the Jason's room. He stood outside the door and tried to decide if he should knock or just walk in. Finally he decided to just open the door. A small amount of light form a security light was coming in through the window it eerily illuminated the four poster king bed. Ianto could see Jason's dark hair and his broad shoulders sticking out from a thin sheet that showed every curve of Jason's amazingly toned body. Lying beside Jason, handcuffed to the bed and fast asleep was a blond boy who looked about 20, but Ianto could tell he was a rift child so no telling how old he really was.

Ianto rolled his eyes, it was just like Jason to tell him he wished they could grow old together and die in each other's arms then go home a fuck some random blonde. Ianto knelt beside Jason's side of the bed and without much thought ran his hand through the man's hair.

"How did you get out of the cuffs," Jason mumbled out.

"He didn't Jason," Ianto said causing Jason to turn his head towards him.

"Well this is a pleasant surprise," Jason grinned then quickly sat up in bed and threw the sheet to the side then patted his leg as a way to tell Ianto to straddle him. Ianto wasn't sure what made him do it. Maybe he was having a mental break down but he toed off his shoes and pulled off his trousers and complied with Jason's request.

"What's with the boxers and the shirt," Jason moaned out as he bucked up into the Welshman both hands holding Ianto's hips firmly. Ianto shrugged. Jason moved a hand behind Ianto's head and pulled him down into a heated kiss. Ianto gave into it as Jason ran a hand under Ianto's shirt.

"This isn't why I came here," Ianto breathed out breaking the kiss.

"Yeah well we will deal with the real reason in a minute," Jason moaned out attacking Ianto's neck. Ianto felt his breathing increase.

"Please Jason," Ianto whispered. Jason didn't need any further encouragement he flipped their positions and tore Ianto's boxers off. Ianto was brought back to his senses when he turned his head and saw the blond staring at him. Ianto looked back at Jason to see him lubing up his arousal. And couldn't believe what he was doing. Those thoughts disappeared when Jason entered him quickly. Ianto cried out.

"Mmm lover boy has spoiled you has he," Jason growled. Ianto moaned through the mixture of slight pain and remarkable pleasure. Jason slowed his thrusts and bent down to capture Ianto's lips. "I love you so much," he whispered against Ianto's lips. He rose back up and stared down at Ianto as he increased his pace, firmly gripping Ianto's erection. They came together; Jason was good at timing things like that.

Jason got off the bed. "Did you enjoy the show, Adrian," Jason asked the blond. Ianto looked at the blond who had witnessed his moment of insanity and watched him nod.

Ianto got off the bed and sighed. "How do you do that to me," Ianto asked Jason rhetorically as he walked to the bathroom to clean up. Ianto was back quickly and he put on his trousers and shoes. His boxers were now ruined.

"So why are you here," Jason asked as he uncuffed Adrian from the bed. Ianto could tell the boy was grateful to be free.

"I have a little problem, it's down stairs," Ianto said.

"So you thought you would soften me up first?" Jason sighed.

"I didn't cause this problem," Ianto said as he walked out of the room.

"Get some sleep," Jason said to Adrian then followed Ianto.

"New toy?" Ianto asked as soon as the door was shut.

"Nope had him for a while," Jason said. Ianto narrowed his eyes.

"So I was easily replaced then," Ianto said trying to hide the slight pout.

"Never will I be able to replace you," Jason answered.

Ianto had mixed feelings about that.

Sarah had fallen asleep when Jason and Ianto made it to the entryway. "Kidnapping is frowned upon in this century Ianto," Jason teased. Ianto wasn't amused.

Sarah woke up at Jason's voice. She used her free hand to wipe the sleep out of her eyes.

"Take her to the living room and we will have a discussion," Jason said serious now that Sarah was awake.

Ianto unlocked the cuffs and led Sarah to the living room. He was surprised to find Aria asleep on the couch baby Ruby in her arms. Ianto sat Sarah in a chair. "Don't move," he warned her. He then walked over to Aria and gently took the baby who was beginning to whine. Aria awoke with a start.

"Sorry," Ianto said quickly. Aria shook her head to show that it was okay.

"Oh good Aria is here," Jason said sarcastically as he came into the living room holding three bottles of water. He handed one to Sarah and one to Ianto. Ianto gave his to Aria, who smiled sweetly at him. "Alright Ianto tell me what happened," Jason said with an eye roll at Aria's smile. Aria flipped him off.

"Well I was locking up the tourist center, and she just appeared in front of me," Ianto said raising his eyebrows at Aria for her gesture.

"Right in front of you," Jason asked glaring at Aria then looking back at Ianto.

"Basically yeah," Ianto answered shifting baby Ruby in his arms.

"Well looks like you just got yourself your first charge," Jason said.

"What? No we don't even know if she needs a guardian. Sarah how old are you now?" Ianto asked.

"19 still, the last thing I remember is you killing me," Sarah answered dryly.

"Looks like she needs a guardian," Jason said.

"Well you should probably get someone to assign her one," Ianto said.

"Rift wants you to have her," Jason said.

Ianto rubbed a hand over his face. "The rift is not a god Jason, okay."

"Alright, you don't want her fine," Jason said walking over to a book shelf and grabbing a handgun off the top of it he walked over to Sarah and pointed it straight at her head. Sarah fell off the chair and stared to cry and beg.

Ianto quickly gave Ruby to Aria, "Get her out of here now," Ianto demanded. Aria raced out of the room.

"I'm sorry Sarah, he doesn't want you," Jason said cocking the gun. Sarah started the add screams to her sobs.

"Okay, Jason, okay," Ianto yelled, "I will be her guardian."

TW-TW-TW

Ianto opened the door to his flat and gestured for Sarah to go inside she obeyed. She was wearing yoga pants and a tank-top that Aria had given her. Ianto followed her into the flat and closed and locked the door behind him.

"I will show you to your room," Ianto said and walked to the guest room Sarah followed him.

The guest room was small and only had a twin bed in it. Now that Ianto looked at it he realized Iden must have set it up for Sarah. Ianto sighed sometimes having your future self planning out your life was a bitch. Sarah sat down on her new bed.

"Are you going to want sex," Sarah asked out of the blue.

"No," Ianto said quickly. She gave him a confused face. "I mean not that you're not…it's just… no." Ianto stammered out.

"Lucy told me about you, and Jason. She said Jason required sex from you," Sarah said.

"Well he didn't, and for future reference, the personal relationship I had with Jason is no one's business. So now that we have cleared that up, how about you get some sleep. Only reason you should leave this room for the next six hour is if you need the loo. Got it." Ianto said. Sarah just nodded. "Good I will go get you some toiletries when I get off work tomorrow or today. Anyway, there should be plenty for you to eat in the kitchen, and don't do anything stupid or I will relocate you again." Ianto said then closed her door and went to his bed and collapsed onto it.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto got to the hub just before Tosh would arrive. He had only gotten an hour of sleep so he could wake up in time to make her some Welsh breakfast cakes. Once her coffee was made he stood next to her computer and waited for her ignoring Jack's questioning stare as he watched Ianto from his office.

Tosh came in at exactly 8 o'clock per usual. She gave Ianto a smile when she saw him. "Don't you have a no eating by the computers rule," she teased as she took the breakfast cake from him and took a bite.

"Yes well, I am making an exception for you." Ianto said with a smile, "don't tell Owen," he added seriously.

"Your secret is safe with me Ianto," Tosh said her words holding a double meaning.

"Good, so we are good then," Ianto said in almost a whisper. Tosh nodded and took a sip of her coffee. Ianto sighed in relief.

"Who do you gotta shag to get a coffee around her," Jack bellowed. Ianto turned to see him standing in the door way of his office. "Because I will do it, it just need to know who to do it to," Jack continued with a wink.

"No need to whore yourself out Sir, I will gladly make you a coffee," Ianto said then headed to the coffee maker.

Ianto went to Jack's office after he had made the coffee and set it down on his desk.

"Close the door Ianto," Jack said then took a sip of coffee. Ianto closed the door then sat down in the chair opposite Jack's desk. "Where were you last night," Jack asked setting his mug down on the desk.

"Here," Ianto deadpanned.

"After you left here," Jack said with annoyance.

"Why," Ianto said.

"Because I went to your flat and you weren't there," Jack answered as if it was obvious.

"Well then I have a feeling you already know the answer to your own question," Ianto said, knowing Jack he would have tracked Ianto's car and found out that he had driven to Jason's.

"Yep, I was just wanting you to tell me," Jack said making Ianto's assumption true.

"You wanted to see if I would lie, you mean," Ianto said.

"Did you fuck him," Jack said his voice cracking just a bit.

"I don't think that is any of your business, being as we are just friends," Ianto said gesturing between himself and Jack.

Jack shook his head and sighed, "Well that was as good as a yes."

Ianto rolled his eyes then the two men sat in silence. "Will there be anything else sir," Ianto said after what seemed like an eternity.

"Not right now," Jack answered. Ianto got up and headed to leave. "Ianto," Jack said before he reached the door, Ianto turned to look at him. "I… never mind," Jack said. Ianto left the office.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto stood in the hygiene section of Tesco. How was it possible that women had some many different choices when it came to shampoo? Ianto pulled out his mobile and dialed Tosh.

"Hello," Tosh answered after a few rings.

"Hey, Tosh its Ianto, what kind of shampoo do you use?" Ianto said.

"Umm, I don't know what ever smells good when I go to get some," Tosh answered.

"Whatever smells good," Ianto repeated popping the lid to one of the shampoos. Strawberry.

"Why do you want to know," Tosh said.

Ianto sighed, "I have been given a charge," he mumbled out.

"Really I want to meet her," Tosh said sounding way too excited. "Wait didn't you say that guardians had to be at least in their second life."

"Yes well Jason makes exceptions for me unfortunately," Ianto said sniffing another shampoo, it smelled like coconut. "Please tell me you secured the line," Ianto said realizing they had just said things he didn't want others to hear.

"Yes Ianto I did," Tosh said with a giggle.

"Good, because I am pretty sure Jack listens to my phone calls," Ianto said.

"Not anymore," Tosh said, "he stopped after the camping trip from hell."

"Oh," was all Ianto said. He decided on the strawberry shampoo, grabbed the matching conditioner and threw it into the cart then grabbed a strawberry shower gel and threw it into the cart as well. "He has a tracker on my car," Ianto said finally.

"Yeah they are on everyone's cars," Tosh said. "Are you two fighting again?"

"I don't even know Tosh, look I have to go, talk to ya later yeah," Ianto said.

"Okay bye Ianto," Tosh said then Ianto hung up.

TW-TW-TW

May 2000

"Time to get up Jones," Jason's said as he gently shook Ianto. Ianto let out a moan and turned to look at the man.

"It's still dark out," Ianto said.

"First from now on you are to address me as sir every time you speak to me, got it," Jason said sternly.

"Yes, sir," Ianto said not wanting to be slapped again.

"Good, now I am aware that it is still dark out, but we are going for a run, so up you get," Jason said.

"I don't run, sir," Ianto said pulling the thin sheet back over him.

"You do now get up," Jason said. Ianto didn't move. "I am going to count to three if you are not out of the bed by then you will be running without shoes, one…" Ianto ignored him. "Two…" Ianto would not be forced to run no way. "Three…" Jason pulled Ianto off the bed and onto the floor.

Ianto pulled his knees to his chest wrapping his arms around them and rested his head against them. "I don't run, sir." Ianto said.

"Okay, I am going to count to three again, If you don't get up and put on those track bottoms then you will be running in the nude, One…" Jason said, Ianto looked up and saw the track bottoms on the small side table then put his head back on his knees, "Two…" Ianto was sure the man was bluffing. "Three…"

Jason pulled Ianto to his feet and ripped off the boxers he had been sleeping in leaving Ianto with just his hands to cover his package. Jason slapped him hard on the ass, "Run now!" Jason yelled. Ianto didn't hesitate to obey.

TW-TW-TW

End of May 2007

Ianto opened the door to his flat to find Sarah sitting on the couch. He smiled at her. "I got you some toiletries," he said handing her a paper bag. She looked inside. "Did I forget anything?" he asked.

"I don't think I needed three types of tampons but thanks," Sarah said with a grin.

"It's ridiculous the amount of hygiene products girls need," Ianto said flopping down on the couch beside Sarah. Sarah shrugged.

"I made cookies," Sarah said after a minute of silence.

"Oh okay, thanks," Ianto said unsure if that was the correct response.

"Do you think I will be able to get some clothes, Sir," Sarah asked quietly. "I mean I washed these today but I would like to have more than just one outfit."

"Yeah, I'm sorry, Aria said she would drop some off tomorrow, I can loan you one of my t-shirts and a pair of track bottoms. They will fit you if you pull the string tight," Ianto said then looked at her, "did you just call me sir?" Sarah nodded. "Well don't do that just call me Ianto, okay," he said she nodded again.

"How long until I get to see my parents and sister," Sarah asked shifting uncomfortably.

"When you have proven we can trust you and have moved in to the flat next door," Ianto said she already knew this they had discussed it last night.

"Right, and until then I am to stay in here," Sarah said somberly.

"Yep," Ianto said popping the p at the end of the word. "So what languages do you know?"

"English and Welsh," Sarah said.

"That's it," Ianto said in disbelief. Sarah nodded. "Okay well I will teach you French next. What kind of combat training have you had?" Sarah shook her head to indicate that she hadn't had any. "Weapons training?" Ianto said. Sarah shook her head again. "Well looks like we are starting from the beginning, yay," Ianto said sarcastically.

TW-TW-TW

May 2000

"It this some kind of mess up boot camp my Tad signed me up for, sir" Ianto said staring at the protein shake in front of him on the dining table. He was in a daze, his feet hurt from where the gravel he had been forced to run on had cut into them, the rest of him ached with the pain of a hard work out, plus he was shivering because he was still nude. Thankfully he had the table to hide him from Jason's view. Not that modesty mattered anymore.

"No, your Father doesn't even know you are here yet," Jason said, "Drink the shake."

Ianto took a sip. It didn't taste bad. "Can I get dressed after I drink this, sir," Ianto said hopefully.

"Yes, after you take a shower. I will get your duffle bag and take it to your room," Jason said.

"Thanks," Ianto said, "sir," he added when Jason gave him a look. "How long are you going to keep me here, sir?" Ianto asked.

"Until your training is finished," Jason said.

"How long will that take," Ianto said forgetting the sir again. Jason looked up and waited with raised eyebrows. "Oh, Sorry how long will that take, sir."

"I am guessing about two or three years," Jason said. Ianto didn't say anything he just stared at Jason in shock. "There is a lot you have to learn Jones."

TW-TW-TW

End of May 2007

Ianto woke up to the sound of sobbing, it was Sarah. He got out of bed and went to her room. She didn't acknowledge him. He lay down next to her and pulled her into an embrace. "It's going to be okay Sarah," he said gently.

"No its not, my guardian is gone, my friends are gone, and I can't even see my mother," she sobbed.

"I know," Ianto whispered.

"And the only person I have to talk to is a man who killed me and I am assuming a few of my friends," Sarah said sobbing into Ianto's shirt.

"I know," Ianto repeated closing his eyes slightly. "I understand," he said softly.

"You couldn't possibly understand," she yelled pushing Ianto away.

Ianto stood up. "Do you think I have never lost any one Sarah? Because I have and you want to know the difference, the person I lost didn't deserve it!" he yelled at her. "Now why don't you focus on the good things, like the fact that you will see your mum again eventually, the fact that we are giving you a second chance, and the fact that you are safe."

"Am I safe, because it is hard to feel safe with a man who kidnapped you!" Sarah yelled.

Ianto couldn't help it he laughed out loud. Sarah stared at him for a moment then a smile spread across her face and she joined him in his laughter.

"Oh the fuck up life we lead Sarah," Ianto said siting down on the bed.

"Fucked up indeed," Sarah said.


	27. Chapter 27

AN: Okay well, this is the keep killing Suzie chapter. It took me forever to get right, and I am still not sure I am happy with it, to be honest. But here it is hope you all like it. Let me know.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

Spoilers: They keep killing Suzie

Rating: MA or R

Warnings: M/M smut, curse words, usual stuff

French translation (I used Google so it may not be correct)

Quoi- What

S'il vous plait-please

Pas- no

Cauchemar- nightmare

Qui- yes

Bonjour-hello

Ce qui ne va pas- what's wrong

entraînement- training

Vas bien- alright, or all it well

Bonne fille- good girl

Chapter 27

"Ianto," Sarah's voice said waking Ianto from his deep sleep.

"Quoi," Ianto muttered out trying his best not to be annoyed.

"S'il vous plait, English," Sarah begged wanting to be able to speak English instead of trying to communicate in French. It was her new requirement to speak French to Ianto at all times. That's how Ianto had learned all the languages he knew so fast with Jason.

"Pas," Ianto said denying her request.

Sarah sighed and left the room, she came back a minute later holding her French to English translation book. She thumbed through the pages trying to find the word she wanted. "Cauchemar," She then sobbed out.

Ianto took pity on her and sat up in bed. "You had a nightmare," he said in perfect French.

"Qui," Sarah said softly with a nod of her head.

"Okay you can speak English," Ianto said then pulled the covers back so Sarah could join him in bed.

Sarah sat her book on the bedside table and crawled into bed. Ianto didn't miss the irony that the dream she had most likely had was because of her relocation and she was now going to the person who had relocated her for comfort.

Sarah laid her head on Ianto's chest and sighed. If Ianto had learned anything about Sarah in the last week and half he had been training her it was that she could be very touchy-feely. He wasn't really into that but as her guardian he did what he thought she needed.

"I am such a big baby, I'm sorry," Sarah said.

"It okay, I think nightmares are just another curse of being a child of the rift," Ianto said running his fingers through her dark brown hair.

"These have nothing to do with that, I have had them since I was about 5 and my uncle shot my aunt in front of me," Sarah said.

"Shit, I am sorry, that sucks," Ianto said.

"Not your fault," Sarah said then let out a laugh, "did you think it was about my relocation," she asked unable to stop giggling now.

"What is so funny about that," Ianto said.

She sat up in bed, "Oh Ianto please save me from yourself," she teased pretending to faint back on the bed.

"Alright miss, I have work in the morning let's go to sleep yeah," Ianto said in a mock demanding voice.

Sarah laid back down beside him now. "You're alright, you know that," she said softly then closed her eyes.

"Yeah, you too," Ianto said then drifted back to sleep.

TW-TW-TW

"Morning sir," Ianto said as he entered Jack's office with a mug of coffee. The two were still out of sorts, it was driving Ianto crazy and more than once he found himself wanting to apologize to Jack for sleeping with Jason. Then he would remind himself that he did nothing wrong. He was also sure that Jack had more than once tried to apologize but the man never actually got the words out.

Ianto sat the mug on Jack's desk. "Thanks Ianto," Jack said softly. Ianto turned to leave. "Ianto close the door and sit down..." Jack said his tone a bit demanding, "please," he added softly when Ianto raised an eyebrow at him. Ianto closed the door and sat down in the chair across from Jack's desk.

They sat in silence for a moment while Jack appeared to be deciding how best to say what he wanted to say. "I miss you Ianto," Jack said finally. "It's been nearly two week and if this goes on any longer I think I am going to die."

"You can't die," Ianto deadpanned. Jack looked up at him with sad eyes. Ianto smiled. "I miss you too Jack," He said he voice almost a whisper.

Jack let out a sigh of relief then laid his head on the desk as if exhausted from the whole ordeal. Ianto smiled at the over grown drama queen that was his boss and lover. Jack sat back up. "I am so glad you said that I was kind of worried that you had…"

"I will never go back to Jason," Ianto said before Jack could finish. "Not in this life at least," he then added.

Jack smiled, "Okay, good. Umm… I was thinking that we could maybe change the parameters of our relationship."

"In what way?" Ianto asked.

"Friends who have sex with just each other," Jack said sounding a bit unsure.

"You would only be having sex with me then," Ianto said in disbelief.

"Yes, if I am honest, umm…. well ever since we started, you know, I have only been with, well you," Jack mumbled out. Ianto felt happy at first then felt a pang of guilt because Jack had been faithful and he had not.

"Oh, well okay, can I maybe have some time to think about it," Ianto said trying not to show he was ashamed at himself.

"Yeah, of course," Jack said hastily.

"Okay well umm… Tosh is going to be here soon so I best go make her a coffee," Ianto said. He got up and began to head to the door of the office then stopped and walked to stand beside Jack's chair. Jack got up and gently caressed his cheek. "I'm sorry about sleeping with Jason, Jack, really I am."

Jack smiled softly. "You don't have anything to be sorry about."

Ianto bent forward and captured Jack's lips gently at first and then need overtook him and he deepened it. Jack pushed him into the metal ladder next to the desk. Ianto moaned into the kiss willing it to never end. Ianto felt Jack's emotions rushing through him. Fear, desperation, need, and love overwhelming love. Ianto broke the kiss and tried to catch his breath. Here was this man who claimed he could never love him, loving him without words. Ianto had to suppress a sob.

Jack stared intently at Ianto's face as if trying to commit every little detail of it to memory. He then gave Ianto a quick kiss and stepped away. "You better go make Tosh her coffee," He said breathlessly.

Ianto nodded and left the office.

TW-TW-TW

"Ianto conference room," Jack called as the team came into the hub later that morning. They had just been to the crime scene of a double murder. It was apparently committed by someone who had been given retcon.

Ianto's mobile rang at that moment. It was Sarah. "Three minutes, sir," Ianto said biting his lip.

"Sure, make it quick," Jack said and went up to the board room with the others.

Ianto answered his phone. "Bonjour," Ianto said.

"Bonjour," Sarah sobbed out. Ianto suppressed an eye roll the girl was always crying though it was usually understandable.

"Ce qui ne va pas," Ianto asked to see what the cause of Sarah's tears was.

"Jason entraînement," Sarah said, which literally meant Jason training, but Ianto immediately understood.

"English," Ianto snapped.

"Thank you, Jason called and said that he was going to pick me up today at 7 and I was to begin training privately with him, you think he wants to do what he did to you," Sarah sobbed. Ianto had told Sarah about some of Jason's less than conventional training methods.

"No, you just calm down, watch Amélie, and I will take care of this okay," Ianto said trying to seem confident that he could take care of it.

"Vas bien," Sarah said which meant all is well but Ianto figured she meant okay.

"Bonne fille," Ianto said gently then ended the call. He sighed, how exactly he was going to take care of this. He knew if he called and talked to Jason directly that Jason would end up getting his way. He needed to go above Jason's head with this one.

Ianto rushed into the conference room and sat down next to Gwen.

"Is he remembering that he's a serial killer, or is he becoming a serial killer because of the retcon," Owen was saying by the monitor.

Ianto silently sent a text message to Aria 'I need Iden's direct line,' it read.

"Wait a minute I've taken retcon," Gwen said nervously. Ianto looked up just in time to see Jack and Tosh exchange mock worried looks.

"Then better stay away from sharp objects," Jack teased Gwen then looked at Ianto. "Ianto, how many people have we given the amnesia pill to?"

Ianto pretended to think for a minute, simply because it freaked people out if he didn't at least pretend to think about things. "Two-thousand and eight," Ianto answered.

"Hey what if they all become psychotic," Owen blurted out with excitement. Ianto felt his mobile vibrate.

"Do you have to sound so happy," Tosh asked Owen in a chastising tone.

"Yeah, I'm just saying, mean streets," Owen said. Everyone sighed.

"Tosh narrow the list down to fit Swanson's profile. Start checking them out as fast as you can." Jack said to Tosh then looked at Gwen and Owen, "You two, there's gotta be a link between the victims. Find the link, find the killer. Get to it." and with that it seemed the meeting was over.

Ianto quickly got up so he could check his phone. He stood by the coffee machine and looked at the new message. It wasn't from Aria but Jason. 'Meeting at my house. 7pm. I will collect your charge.' It read.

Ianto wanted to growl in frustration for two reasons, one because he was hoping that he and Jack would be having make-up sex by 7pm and two because Jason wanted to get Sarah. Ianto had grown pretty protective over his new charge over the last week and a half. 'I will get my charge, you stay the fuck away from her,' Ianto texted back to Jason then made his way down the stairs. He needed to clean and Owen's computer station always provided him with that opportunity.

Ianto's phone vibrated again when he reached the computer. 'It's for her own good,' Jason's message read. Ianto wanted to throw the phone.

The other members of team Torchwood were walking past him then towards Jack's office. Curiosity distracted Ianto from his problems and he grabbed Tosh as she was walking past. "What's going on?" he asked her.

"Gwen has talked Jack into using the glove," she said then continued to walk to Jack's office. Ianto stood in shock for a moment then followed.

TW-TW-TW

Two murder victim's later and a quick search through Suzie Costello's storage locker and the team found themselves standing in the medical bay looking down at their deceased colleague. Ianto had the same stopwatch that Jack had lent him when Suzie had first discovered the unique gift the glove had.

"Do we all get frozen, Torchwood staff when we die. Do we all get kept?" Gwen asked as she stood next to Suzie's body.

"Rules and Regulations," Jack said simply.

"For how long," Gwen said. Ianto looked at Owen and raised his eyebrows, Ianto resisted the urge to tell her that they got thrown out once they reached there expiration date.

"Forever," Jack said.

"Recording," Tosh said.

"You got that stop watch," Owen asked Ianto.

Ianto smiled, "Always," he answered. He had attempted to give it back to Jack after they revived the last victim but Jack had told him to keep it. Ianto felt like a girl who had just received a promise ring. Jack's slight smile at Ianto's answer made Ianto want to blush.

"I'll record from my station, I'm sorry but I don't want to look her in the eye, sorry," Tosh said suddenly then left the med bay.

"Anyone else," Jack asked. Ianto and Owen remained quiet.

"Any advice," Gwen said nervously to Jack, "Yeah I know empathy, even though she did try to kill me."

"You and me both," Jack said.

TW-TW-TW

After the first try to revive Suzie turned out to be a failure, Jack stabbed her with what Ianto had named the life knife and she did revive, she all the way revived.

Ianto cornered Jack in a corridor after they had set Suzie up in the interrogation room, "Can I stand down, sir" Ianto asked. He didn't really want to stand down but it was already a quarter till 8 and he had already received about 30 texts from an angry Jason.

"Why," Jack said in a confused tone.

Ianto looked down at his feet, "Suzie knew, about Lisa."

Jack narrowed his eyes, "and you are just now telling me."

Ianto looked at Jack, "She blackmailed me, Jack, I didn't… I'm sorry."

"But you told me anyway despite her attempt to blackmail you," Jack said.

"I told you before she tried to blackmail me Jack," Ianto said not wanting Jack to think he had risked Lisa to turn in Suzie.

"Oh, Okay, well how about you go ahead and head home and get some sleep, I will call you in if we need you," Jack said gently touching Ianto's cheek.

"Thanks," Ianto said then quickly gave Jack a kiss. Jack growled and pushed Ianto up against the wall deepening the kiss. They made out for a few minutes until they were interrupted by Tosh.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," She said with a slight blush, "Suzie is coming around."

Ianto took that as his cue to leave.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto got out of his car in front of Jason's house and slammed his door shut. He was livid because when he went to pick up Sarah he found that she wasn't there, and he swore to god that if she was currently in Jason's basement of hell someone was getting relocated.

The front door was unlocked so he opened it and walked into the house. He saw Sarah in the living room and sighed in relief. He didn't even pay attention to the other occupants of the room as he walked over to where she was sitting in a chair and knelt in front of her. He could tell by her body language that she was upset.

"Are you okay," he said gently.

"Thought you were teaching her French," Jason's voice said from Ianto's left.

"Fuck off Jason," Ianto said not taking his focus off Sarah who was silently crying.

"Oi, there is a child present," Aria's voice said off to Ianto's right. He turned to see her sitting on a love seat holding baby Ruby who was currently chewing on a stuffed bear and wearing an onesie that read 'Daddy's Princess.' Sitting next to her was Iden. Ianto didn't think anyone could ever get used to seeing their future self.

Ianto stood up. "I apologize, Aria," he said simply.

"Better fucking apologize," She teased. Ianto smiled and Iden rolled his eyes. Jason just gave a fake cough.

"Okay," Iden said standing up, "Since I already know the whole debate let's make this quick shall we. I just got in from out of town and I would love nothing more than to go to bed. Ianto, Jason will be giving Sarah a private lesson once a week. That's it, debate over."

"No," Ianto said, "You can't be serious! Why would you agree to that?"

Iden sat back down and threw his head back against the couch. "Yeah, debates not over," he sighed out. Ruby let out a high pitched happy squeal, which didn't quite match the feeling of the room.

"Is it like looking at your baby pictures, Iden." Jason asked with a grin. Ianto wasn't amused.

"Kind of except pictures don't talk and try to disagree with you," Iden said closing his eyes and letting out another sigh.

"I am not trying to disagree with you, I am disagreeing with you. Sarah is my charge. I am in charge of training her. I don't want him anywhere near her," Ianto said pointing to Jason. "He threatened to shoot her last week."

"Oh get off your high horse, you wanted to pawn her off on someone else last week," Jason spat out.

"I fucking hate you Jason, you try and pretend that you train people to prepare them for torture, but you only do it because you are a sick bastard," Ianto said.

Fire went through Jason's eyes and he took a step closer to Ianto. Ianto stood his ground.

"Enough!" Iden yelled. "Christ, you know of all the other rifts, Cardiff is the only one that is run by babies. God, you know that being undercover at Torchwood is the highest ranking undercover job in the city, Ianto. And Jason do I need to explain why your job is important. Yet here you both stand, highest positions in the city and you're having a pissing contest." Ianto felt weird being yelled at by himself. "Now Sarah is going to be trained by Jason, with or without your approval Ianto, simply because next to me Jason is the top trainer, and believe it or not I care about Sarah. Now get back to Torchwood before it goes into lockdown."

"So it looks like you fail Jason, I turn out exactly like you," Ianto said then without being able to face Sarah knowing he had failed her he quickly left the house.

"Ianto," Aria's voice called just before he reached his car. He wiped away an angry tear before he turned to look at her. "That's not true, you are nothing like Jason," she said when she reached him.

"Do I train you that way, is that something I have to look forward to causing my child's mother pain," Ianto said his voice cracking.

"I'll love you despite it, you do it to prepare me, we all need to be prepared, no telling where we will wind up next," Aria said gently wiping another tear from Ianto's face.

"Yes, well that means nothing because I love Jason despite it to," Ianto said, "look thanks for trying to cheer me up or whatever but I need to get back."

"Of course, gotta get back to Jack," She said then turned to leave. Ianto sighed. Aria turned back and walked back to him. "You want to know how you really torture me Ianto, with him Jack fucking Harkness, I will always be second best next to him. Wait no that's not true, Jason is second best, I come in at the third spot. Of course no telling how many others you loved before me, is there any room left for me really?" She yelled.

Ianto felt like he was having a discussion with Aria that she should be having with Iden but he answered her anyway. "I love you now Aria, you are top of the list now, okay, I would do anything for you and for Ruby, and you will never be second best."

"You hardly know me," Aria spat out.

"Yeah, imagine how much more I am going to love you when I am Iden and I do know you," Ianto said softly wiping a tear from Aria's cheek. She smiled and held his hand to her then gently kissed his palm.

"Okay, go to work," Aria said releasing Ianto's hand. He smiled and got in his car waving good bye to his future wife.

TW-TW-TW

The first thing Ianto did when he got back to the hub was make coffee; he passed them out among the rest of the team.

"Thought you were going home," Jack said gently when Ianto handed him a coffee.

"I couldn't sleep," Ianto said.

"Well we caught the bad guy," Jack said.

"Why don't you seem happier then," Ianto asked.

"I don't know what to do with Suzie," Jack confessed.

"You will think of something, you always do," Ianto said then decided he should go pay a visit to Suzie.

"Your still here then," Suzie said as Ianto descended the steps.

"Yes," Ianto said siting down in the chair opposite of her.

"No need to worry, I am not going to tell on you," Suzie said.

Ianto smiled, "Wouldn't do you much good, they already know."

"Oh," Suzie said with surprise, "did you save her then."

"No," Ianto said. They sat silently for a few moments.

"So why did you come to talk to me if it wasn't about your girlfriend," Suzie asked finally.

"How long did you know," Ianto said.

"I knew the day you moved her into the hub," Suzie answered.

"So you were always a bitch then, it wasn't just the glove that made you that way," Ianto said as he got up.

"Wait, I have a question for you. What did the files you destroyed have to do with your girlfriend, hmm, and the morgue drawer you emptied, that had no body in it, what else are you hiding Jones," Suzie said.

"Oh Suzie if I told you that I'd have to kill you, wait your already dead," Ianto said with a smile.

"Get me out of here Jones or I will tell Jack," Suzie threatened.

"Fuck off," Ianto said and left walking quickly to find Tosh. He pulled her into the conference room when he did.

"Suzie knows… fuck… knows stuff she shouldn't…," Ianto whispered hurriedly to her.

"Calm down, first off, okay." Tosh said Ianto took a deep breath. "Alright now, what kind of evidence does she have?"

"None," Ianto said feeling calmer already, "well unless you count the video feed from the interrogation room."

"So none," Tosh said with a wink.

Ianto smiled, "I love you Tosh you know that, I really love you."

"Yeah well, I am pretty cool," Tosh said.

"Who's pretty cool," Owen asked walking into the room.

"Tosh," Ianto said.

"Oh, yeah, Tosh is cool, not quite as cool as me though," Owen said winking at Tosh. "Anyway, you guys won't believe what I just figured out.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto stood in the morgue standing next to the now dead again Suzie filling out the death certificate for Jack. Said man was currently walking toward him. Ianto wanted nothing more than to lose himself in Jack and forget how right now across town his charge was under the care of Jason. He also wanted to celebrate the fact that although Suzie knew about the files and the missing body she hadn't told Jack.

"Thanks for doing this," Jack said somberly as he came to a stop on the other side of Suzie.

"Part of my job sir," Ianto said.

"No, I should be doing it," Jack said, he looked so defeated. Ianto felt the same way. At least Sarah would survive his failure. Suzie hadn't survived Jack's failure. Jack let out an audible sigh and leaned up against the morgue drawers. "One day we're gonna run out of space."

Ianto didn't doubt that. He nervously looked up at Jack and decided they needed a change of subject. "If you're interested, I've still got that stop watch."

"So," Jack said a bit confused.

"Well think about it, lots of things you can do with a stop watch," Ianto said trying to sound seductive.

"Oh yeah I can think of a few," Jack said.

"There's quite a list," Ianto responded.

"I'll send the others home early, see you in my office it ten minutes," Jack said pushing himself off the drawers.

"That's ten minutes and counting," Ianto said pressing the start button on the stop watch.

Jack began to walk out of the room and Ianto switched to the other side of Suzie. He looked down at his report and realized he had come to the cause of death section. "Oh Jack, what do you want me to say on the death certificate."

"Good question," Jack said.

"She had quite a few deaths in the end," Ianto said.

"I don't know, death by Torchwood," Jack said.

"I'll put a lock on the door just in case she goes walking again," Ianto teased.

"Nah, no chance of that, the resurrection days are over, thank god," Jack said.

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure, that's the thing about gloves sir, they come in pairs," Ianto said. Jack looked back at him and raised his eyebrow, then continued out of the room.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto arrived in Jack's office exactly ten minutes later stopwatch in his pocket. He really could only think of a few things to do with a stopwatch that would lead to sex, but he figured it would still be awesome sex, as sex with Jack always was.

Ianto frowned when he saw Jack looking forlorn. "Jack, you want to talk about it," Ianto said softly as he sat down opposite of the man.

"Suzie never mentioned Lisa, the whole time she was alive again," Jack said.

That wasn't what Ianto thought Jack was going to say. "Okay, so she was a loyal murderer," Ianto said.

"Or you made up the story so you could leave and…" Jack said.

"You fucking tracked my car again," Ianto yelled, "god Jack, I was there for maybe 30 minutes, and I didn't sleep with him."

"Then why did you go!" Jack yelled standing up from his desk.

"I left a tie there, you big possessive jerk," Ianto yelled.

"Oh there's a story, took you thirty minutes to find a tie," Jack said.

"It's a pretty big house," Ianto deadpanned.

Jack looked at Ianto seriously for a minute then laughed a genuine laugh. "It is a big house, how does a martial arts instructor afford that."

"Trust fund," Ianto said which to the public eye was true. Jason Sim's inherited the mansion from James Sim's who was supposed to be Jason's father but was actually Jason himself.

Jack sighed and ran his hands threw his hair. "God Jones, Ianto, Jones, what are you doing to me."

"There are a lot of things I'd like to be doing to you Jack," Ianto said.

"Is that your way of telling me to stop being ridiculous and fuck you," Jack said with a grin.

"Yes, it is," Ianto said walking to stand next to Jack.

Jack smiled, put his hands on either side of Ianto face then pulled him into a toe curling kiss. Ianto put his hands on Jack's back and tried to get as close to the older man as he could. Jack pulled away, "where's the stop watch?" he asked breathlessly. Ianto pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to Jack.

Jack pushed the button on top. "Let's strip shall we," Jack said already removing his braces. Ianto started to strip with him. Jack was naked first, but Ianto felt like he cheated.

"Down the ladder," Jack said Ianto was already half way there.

Jack pushed Ianto down onto the bed and straddled him as soon as his feet hit the floor. "Where's the stop watch," Ianto said as Jack attacked his neck.

"Hmm, oh I left it on my desk, don't think it will be able to properly calculate how long it takes me to fuck you, because I am planning on lasting a while," Jack said then went back to Ianto's neck slowly moving up to his ear. "Need to take the edge off first though," he whispered then leaned up and retrieved lube from his bedside table.

Ianto decided to take charge; he flipped them over and took the lube from Jack. Jack allowed him to do it. Ianto prepared himself, and Jack stroked himself and made erotic noises. "Please, Ianto" Jack begged after a minute. Ianto smiled and slowly lowered himself onto Jack.

Neither man lasted long during that first round, but they were okay with that because there were many more rounds before Ianto finally passed out in Jack's arms.


	28. Chapter 28

AN: ch. 28, so I have decide that I may briefly mention random shoes ultimately I am skipping it. You know because it is mostly about Gwen, and I don't really like her. Anyway, back to this chapter. It's another one with flashbacks. I hope at the end of this you guys maybe have a better understanding of Jason. Okay remember to comment, I live off them!

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

Rating: R

Spoilers: none in this chapter

Warnings: M/M, slight torture, Ianto crying. :(

January 2001

Ianto was in a deep sleep. A peaceful I just got shagged sleep, and then he was pulled out of it roughly. Jason didn't even speak as he pulled Ianto down the stairs and all the way to the basement. This man was the total opposite of the man that had made love to him last night. Ianto was a bit scared of this Jason.

Ianto was pushed into a chair and strapped to it. Then watched as Jason began to pace.

"Did Tangwen tell you a secret yesterday," Jason said calmly.

Tangwen was the elderly maid that came three times a week. She had told Ianto something the day before, but it had been a load of rubbish. 'The rabbit is waiting' Ianto had chalked it up to her being senile and had smiled softly in acknowledgement then left her to do her job.

"Umm… yes," Ianto said confused and a bit frightened.

"You can't tell me what it was Ianto, try and last as long as you can, I know you will make me proud," Jason whispered softly against Ianto's ear.

Ianto was about to question what was going in when Jason pushed on point between Ianto's neck and shoulder. Pain shot threw his body and he cried out. Jason released the pressure.

"What the fuck!" Ianto yelled.

"Tell me what the bitch said," Jason said calmly.

"You just told me not to," Ianto yelled then Jason squeezed a spot just below Ianto's knee. Pain shot through his whole body.

"Fuck, stop please, god please stop," Ianto cried. This wasn't fun at all.

"Tell me what she said," Jason said. Tears were in Ianto's eyes. He bit his lip and hung his head.

Jason pressed behind Ianto's ear. All Ianto could do was scream.

Four hours later Ianto finally caved "the rabbit is waiting!" He yelled. Jason wasted no time removing Ianto's restraints and pulling him into his arms.

"You did so well, I am so proud of you," Jason whispered gently. Ianto just sobbed into Jason chest.

TW-TW-TW

June 2007

Ianto stepped into his flat to find Sarah sitting on his couch reading Pride and Prejudice in French. "How was your day then," she asked not looking up from her book.

"I don't speak English to you," Ianto said in perfect French as he put his wallet and keys in the bowl on his entry table. In reality his day had been spent sleeping with and shagging Jack. It was 2:00 in the afternoon when Ianto finally pulled himself away from Jack and insisted he needed to go home.

"Well that's good, I would hate for you to understand when I call you and cocksucker," Sarah said still not looking up from her book.

"So you're mad at me for something beyond my control? I did what I could Sarah!" Ianto said dropping the French.

"No, you did all you could to prevent it and when that didn't work you left. I needed you!" Sarah yelled standing up and tossing her book onto the sofa.

"What did you want me to do?" Ianto yelled.

"Comfort me!" Sarah screamed.

Ianto closed his eyes and took a step back. Sarah was right; he walked away from her the night before like a coward because he couldn't face her pain. He didn't think about how he was the only one she trusted the only one she knew. "You're right, I am sorry," he said gently opening his eyes to look at her.

Sarah crossed her arms and shifted on her feet. After a minute she gave him a small smile. "It wasn't that bad really," she whispered.

"Don't try and sugar coat it for me, I know what Jason's lessons are like," Ianto said coming forward and placing a hand gently on her shoulder.

"No really, I mean it wasn't like what you described to me. He taught me about pressure points, showed me where they all were, showed me briefly what they felt like, then had me practice on him," Sarah explained, "Plus he wasn't wearing a shirt, so definitely not torture."

"Huh," was all Ianto said in return removing his hand and scratching his head.

"Iden talked to me, said that the only reason Jason was giving me lessons because you have a lot on your plate," Sarah said.

"So he didn't tie you to a chair and see how long you could go without screaming as he used your pressure points against you? I mean nothing like that?" Ianto asked with confusion.

"No," Sarah said.

"Do you think that you're the exception to his usual training method or I am?" Ianto asked rhetorically.

"I don't know what you are getting at Ianto," Sarah said in a confused tone.

Ianto picked up his discarded car keys and his wallet from the entry table. "Yeah, me either, look I am going to go do a little detective work, I will be back later. Do you need anything?"

"No," Sarah said still confused.

TW-TW-TW

January 2001

Jason pulled Ianto in to a standing position. "Come on, let's go get some food, and then a nap," he said gently.

"I'm not very hungry," Ianto said his voice raw from screaming through the pain.

"Okay, then a nap," Jason said.

"Okay," Ianto said wanting nothing more than to get out of the basement of hell as he had now decided to call it.

Jason tried to keep an arm around him but Ianto pushed him away. "I can walk just fine thank you," Ianto said harshly.

Ianto walked up out of the small room and traveled past a few other rooms or cells as Ianto decided they must be and up the main stairs into the laundry room. He collapsed on the floor as soon as he got there. Uncontrollable sobs came out of him stopping only briefly because he vomited. He was aware of Jason's hand on his back gently rubbing it in small circles. If he didn't know any better he would have sworn the older man was crying as well.

Ianto let out one more sob then promptly passed out.

Tw-TW-TW

June 2007

Ianto has always been a curious person. When he was five his curiosity got him stuck in his attic. His father had eventually found him, but not before the police had been called due to a missing child report.

"Oh my little mab, I was so worried, why were you in the attic," His father had said to him.

"Rhi said a monster lived up there, I had to know," Ianto had cried.

"Oh Ianto don't you know that curiosity kills the cat," his father had laughed.

It was with that same sense of curiosity that Ianto had hacked into the Rift Database when he was 19; he had done it for one reason, to know the names of all of Jason's previous charges. It's not that Jason was secretive about them per say, it just that Ianto had never gotten up the nerve to ask. It seemed like a personal question anyway. So Ianto had hacked the database and found out that Jason had a ton of past charges.

Jason was a charge himself from 1959 till 1963 then he received his first charge. A young girl by the name of Deborah Roberts aged 19 when she started her training and in 1966 she had relocated herself.

Ianto always wondered why she had chosen to do it. Not that is was uncommon for Rift Children in their first lives to do it, who wanted to be 80 for eternity? Ianto had wanted to go into undercover work so that he wouldn't have to end his own life, he hoped. He didn't think he could do it.

In 1986 Jason had taken over a charge by the name of Dylan Edwards. He had been 17 then but now Dylan worked undercover at the Cardiff Police Station, behind the information desk, which is where Ianto had decided to start his 'detective work.' Ianto had a feeling that the thing with Sarah was a fluke. It could be that Jason went easier on girls, his 10th century knight chivalry coming to the surface. Or the less likely conclusion, that Jason had only trained Ianto in the art of torture resistance.

Ianto sensed Dylan as soon as he walked into the police station on that wet afternoon. He walked straight up to the information desk which was located off to the side.

"Minister," Dylan had whispered as soon as Ianto was close enough that none of the other people in the area would hear him.

Ianto was about to correct him but then decided that he would get the answers he wanted easier if Dylan thought he was the Rift Minister so he let it go. "Dylan Edwards," Ianto said diplomatically.

"The one and only," Dylan said with a smile.

"I need to ask you a few questions about your training," Ianto began, "I understand that Jason Sims was your guardian?"

"Yes, he was alright, I mean a complete asshole, but he trained me well, cared for me, still checks up on me from time to time," Dylan stated, "I know you have received a lot of grief for promoting him, but the way I see it he was the logical choice, you know being the little misses second in command and all."

"Yes, thanks for your support. Anyway, I was wondering if you could maybe tell me about your torture resistance training." Ianto said not thankful for the man's support at all.

"My what now?" Dylan said, "I mean we went over stuff like that but I don't remember putting any of it into practice."

"No forced sleep deprivation, or electric shocks, no isolation, no pain," Ianto said trying to keep his cool.

"No, of course not, I mean Jason is an asshole but he isn't a psychopath," Dylan said sounding a bit defensive of his guardian.

"Okay, well thank you Dylan, for your time and honesty," Ianto said biting his lip slightly and trying not to shake.

"Not a problem Minister," Dylan said and then Ianto made a hasty retreat.

Ianto was shaking like a leaf by the time he got to his car. This felt exactly like how he had felt when he was told by the group of rift children he worked with in London that they hadn't been train the same way he had. Like his world was collapsing, things he thought he knew, things he had come to terms with, all falling around him. He sobbed and then slammed his palms into the steering wheel.

It wasn't right for him to be so upset about this; it was a good thing really. It meant that Sarah was safe; that all of Jason's other charges hadn't gone through it. He should be relieved that he wouldn't be torturing Aria, and that he wasn't going to turn in to a total asshole like Jack. But he was upset because it wasn't fair. Why was he put through the tough training and not any of the others?

Ianto's passenger door opened pulling him away from his thoughts. Iden crawled into the car holding two take away coffees. Ianto took one from him, too miserable to tell his future self to fuck off.

"So have you ever heard the saying, no one is as hard on you as yourself," Iden asked taking a sip of his coffee.

"Yes, but that isn't the saying, the saying is 'you are your biggest critic,'" Ianto said watching the rain beat down on his windshield, "Wait is this the bit where you say you ordered Jason to intensify my training because I am you and you have to be harder on yourself?" He asked with sarcasm.

"No, actually I was talking about Ruby, she wants to crawl so bad, she gets up on her little hands and knees and just sways back and forth. She gets so mad when the movement doesn't make her go forward. Adorable really," Iden said taking a sip of his coffee.

"Why are you in my car," Ianto asked bluntly.

"Well if you want to get technical it's my car too. I kinda miss it actually," Iden said looking around the immaculate vehicle.

Ianto rested his head on the steering wheel, "I become insufferable," he moaned.

Iden let out a laugh.

"I am so happy you see the humor in this, what is it like when people say, 'one day we will look back at this and laugh,'" Ianto snapped looking over at Iden.

"Kinda," Iden said. "Look it's not Jason's fault okay. He had an advantage when training you, he knew exactly what you have and will go through, and every piece of training he gave you will come in handy. Believe me, one day you will be happy you can go almost 5 days without sleep. You will be happy that you know how to cope with being alone. You've already found satisfaction with your ability to remain silent through pain, to go to a place when it's happening and you don't even feel it. Jason's training is going to seem like a bee sting compared to what's coming your way," Iden explained "I am sure that I would have gone mental by now if it wasn't for Jason. Imagine if you had never had training when you faced the cannibals? Do you think Tosh would have survived if that was the first time you had ever been restrained, if you didn't know how not to panic, you remember that don't you, how easily you used to panic. "

"Okay, you've made your bloody point and scared the piss out of me!" Ianto yelled. Iden sat back in the seat and let out a sigh. They sat in silence for a while and then Ianto spoke again, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Yes," Iden said.

"Jack, when I relocate are you going to tell him," Ianto asked.

"Yes, I…," Iden said then his voice cracked. "It's the worst torture, he has been so close to me for so long and I have to stay away, god it sucks." Ianto saw a tear on Iden's cheek that was quickly wiped away.

"How much longer will you have to wait," Ianto asked.

Iden just smiled, shook his head, and got out of the car.

TW-TW-TW

January 2001

Ianto woke up on Jason's bed and was surprised to be fully clothed. Well in a shirt and track shorts. Jason was fast asleep beside him. He looked surprisingly peaceful none of the hard lines that usually graced his face.

Ianto thought about what just happened, this man that he trusted and loved had basically tortured him. For some reason Ianto was in denial about the whole thing, his Jason wouldn't do that to him. Surely Jason had had no choice that had to be the case. Most likely it was a requirement, all rift children were probably trained like that. Besides it made sense, rift children held a secret so precious that it could end the universe.

Ianto ran a hand through Jason's dark hair causing the man to stir. Jason looked at him with an apprehensive smile.

"It's okay, I understand," Ianto said.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto drove straight to the hub after his conversation with his future self. He had seen the desperation in Iden's eyes at the mention of Jack. It made Ianto want nothing more than to see the man again, even if it had only been 4 short hours since they parted.

When Ianto got to the hub everything was quiet and Jack was nowhere to be seen but a light coming from his bunker gave away his position. Ianto made his way quickly to Jack's office and then down the ladder.

Jack was lying naked on his stomach reading an old book.

"Isn't this how I left you?" Ianto teased.

Jack turned around and grinned, "Ianto, missing me already?"

"Yep," Ianto said as he began to undress.

Jack turned fully on to his back and sat up so he could get a better look, "Well I missed you too," he said staring intently at Ianto.

Ianto finished pushing his boxers off and then quickly got on the bed, straddled Jack, and pushed him down before capturing his lips in a heated kiss.

"I like take-charge Ianto," Jack growled moving his hands up and down Ianto's sides when the Welshman broke the kiss.

Ianto sat up causing Jack to moan with the friction it caused to their groins. "Do you ever wish you could just stay in a moment Jack," Ianto whispered, "like it's so perfect that you want to just hold on to it, and never go back to the horror of real life."

Jack ran a hand lovingly over Ianto's cheek then pulled Ianto back down to him and held him close. "All the time and here lately all those moments have involved you," he whispered gently placing a kiss in Ianto's hair.

Ianto felt Jack's emotions run through him. There was no denying that is was pure love. Ianto let out a sob he didn't know he was holding and that opened the flood gates. Tears started to fall at an alarming rate.

Jack increased his grip around Ianto, "shh…. It's okay baby, don't cry," Jack said gently. Ianto cried harder.

"I'm sorry, I don't even know why I am crying," Ianto sobbed out against his lover's chest.

"Sometimes you just have to cry," Jack whispered kissing Ianto's hair again.

"Well just don't tell anyone, wouldn't want to ruin my bad boy image," Ianto teased as he attempted to wipe his eyes.

"Oh your secret is safe with me Ianto Jones," Jack said.

Ianto sat up a bit so he could look at Jack's face, "I can always count on you," He said with a smile.

Jack smiled sadly for a moment then flipped their positions effectively pinning Ianto under him. He kissed the younger man's cheek tenderly then slowly moved down his jaw line, he stopped briefly to chastely kiss Ianto's lips then moved down his throat gently nipping his Adams apple. Jack then turned his focus to Ianto's chest kissing the burn scar found there soothingly and then lightly tracing it with his tongue as if trying to memorize its exact shape.

Ianto let out a moan when Jack suck on one of his nipples then lightly bit it. Jack raised his head slightly and then gently rubbed the nipple with his thumb until in pebbled beneath his touch. He then replaced his mouth sucking gently again. Ianto let out a moan and arched into Jack. Jack chuckled lightly then kissed his way to Ianto's other nipple, giving it the exact same treatment.

Jack moved to Ianto's abdomen stopping first at his appendix scar and licking it then moving to Ianto belly button where he dipped his tongue in. Ianto whimpered, Jack was so close to where Ianto longed for him to go. Jack moved to the soft spot just above Ianto's hip. It seemed to be Jack's favorite spot to leave a mark. Ianto moaned and squirmed uncontrollably as Jack sucked on the surprisingly sensitive spot.

Ianto whimpered when Jack began to move back up after leaving his mark. Jack just chuckled then began to kiss down Ianto's shoulder until he reached the crook in his arm. He gently sucked it for a moment then moved to Ianto's lower arm. He gave the burn scars there the same treatment he had given the one on Ianto's chest then moved to give the same treatment to Ianto's other arm.

"Jack your killing me," Ianto moaned as Jack kissed down his inner thigh. Jack chuckled and then kissed up Ianto's opposite inner thigh before finally giving attention to the part Ianto really needed him to. Ianto let out a sigh as Jack licked up his shaft then a whine when Jack just continued to lick him instead of taking him into his mouth.

"Please Jack," Ianto begged. Jack smiled up at him and then with one more lick he took the Welshman all the way down his throat. Ianto cried out and tried not to buck up into Jack. Jack chuckled around him then put his expert sucking skills to work. It didn't take much until Ianto was releasing into Jack's mouth.

Jack moved slowly back up Ianto's body and kissed his lips gently. "Feel better," asked when he pulled back.

"Much," Ianto said with a grin. Jack lay down beside him and pulled him into him they were staring at each other face to face. "It's going to be really hard for me to return the favor if you are holding me in a death grip," Ianto teased.

"I just want to hold you until I fall asleep, let me do that and I will be happy," Jack whispered.

"Okay," Ianto said softly giving Jack another quick kiss. Jack smiled and then seemed to be taking in every inch of Ianto's face. "Are you committing me to memory," Ianto asked in a teasing tone.

"Yep," Jack whispered seriously. Ianto felt his heart contract. Of course Jack was committing him to memory. The man believed that when Ianto died that would be it for them. He didn't know what Ianto knew. It was cruel really. Ianto wanted to tell Jack not to fret, that the future him was waiting to pick up the pieces when the present him died.

Jack closed his eyes and leaned his head against Ianto's forehead, and soon they both drifted off to sleep.

TW-TW-TW

January 2001

"So what do you want to do today, well with what's left of it," Jason asked as he handed Ianto a plate of cheese toasties. It was the only thing the man could cook without the risk of burning the house down.

"I don't know," Ianto said with a shrug as he took a sip of his soda.

"We could go to a film, or go shopping, maybe watch bond all day," Jason said.

"Okay," Ianto said picking at his toast.

"All of the above then?" Jason said nervously.

Ianto looked up. "How often are days like this going to occur," Ianto asked.

"Once a week," Jason said somberly.

"And it is required," Ianto said.

"Yes," Jason answered.

Ianto sighed and took a bite of food. "Alright all of the above," he said with a sigh.

TW-TW-TW

June 2007

Ianto awoke to find Jack sleeping peacefully beside him. He gently got out of bed, dressed, and headed to the main hub. He fixed two cups of coffee then went back to Jack's bunker.

"Jack," Ianto said. The man didn't stir. Ianto felt bad he really should let Jack sleep but he needed to do this before he lost his nerve. "Jack," he called louder. Jack sat up in bed with a start and looked at Ianto with confusion. "Oh good you're awake, I made you a coffee," Ianto said then sat on the bed he handed the mug to Jack and waited for the man to take a few sips before he began to talk.

"I need to tell you something Jack," Ianto said nervously.

"Oh that doesn't sound good," Jack said with a wink taking another big sip of his coffee.

Ianto smiled half-heartedly. "The rift is one of many as you know, a door way to different times and places," Ianto began.

"Oh yeah, thanks for informing me," Jack teased.

Ianto gave another half-hearted smile. "Any way it is also a form of energy, not to different from radiation only it doesn't cause cancer. It can however affect an unborn child if the mother is exposed to a high amount of the energy," Ianto said.

"I don't think so," Jack said, "though there was this one case where a baby came out glowing, but it turned out that the father of the child was a Rubicund, a race of aliens that live on a dark planet, so they are enhanced with bioluminescence. Oh it is a beautiful place to visit, like a constant light show."

"No Jack, I am not asking you if this is something that happens I am telling you. These babies grow normally and when they die the rift pulls their bodies through brings them back to life and then for lack of a better phrase spits them out somewhere else." Ianto said.

"Ianto I think I would know if that was true," Jack said taking another sip of his coffee.

"No you wouldn't because we work hard to make sure that organizations like Torchwood and UNIT don't find out about us," Ianto said.

Jack stood up off the bed, "What do you mean us?" Jack said sternly.

Ianto sighed and stood up as well, "Jack, I am a child of the rift."

TW-TW-TW

AN: Oh the classic cliff hanger. Go on say it; I know I am a bitch. lol.


	29. Chapter 29

AN: Here ya go. Didn't make you wait long did I. Okay, so I got in total of 13 comments on the last chapter. That is both livejournal and fanfiction combined. I am pretty sure that is the biggest number I have gotten for any chapter, so here is a big thank you to all those who commented.

It was brought to my attention that I could use a beta. So if anyone is interested, just let me know. I try hard to edit myself but in reality grammar isn't my strong suit.

I again want to thank everyone who reads this fic. Thank you for taking the time to read it and I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood

Rating:R

Spoilers: Random Shoes

Warning: Small amount of smut.

Jack looked stunned. "You're what now?" He asked.

"A child of the rift," Ianto said.

"And that's one of these people that die and are brought back to life by the rift?" Jack said as if clarifying.

"Yes," Ianto said.

"And they are spit out somewhere else, essentially traveling through time?" Jack said taking a step closer to Ianto and taking another sip of his coffee.

"Yes," Ianto said biting his lip.

"Do they just continue to age, or what?" Jack asked waving his hand in the air.

"We stay the same as we are when we die. The only wounds that the rift seems to heal are the ones that led to our death, if there are wounds. So Lisa, for example, will look just as she did the day of the cyber invasion," Ianto said calmly. He hoped that's what Lisa looked like. "Forever," he then added.

"Oh my god," Jack said then ran his fingers through his hair. He walked over to his side table and sat his now empty coffee mug on it. "Has anything you've ever said to me been true!" he yelled suddenly looking back at Ianto, "Anything at all!"

Ianto flinched but answered the question, "Yes, that I need you that's true! I love you Jack that's why I am telling you. So that you will know that you aren't going to lose me because future me is out there right now, just waiting to come back to you when I go. We can be together forever Jack!"

"Yes because I want to live forever with a man who has never told me the truth, who has done nothing but deceive me!" Jack yelled.

"I had to Jack, please understand that," Ianto said.

Jack sighed. "How many of your kind are in my city," he asked starting to look around the floor presumably for his pants.

"There are 108 of us currently in Cardiff, nearly 75 in London. There are 5 other rifts around the world each hosting anywhere between 50 and 200 Children," Ianto said diplomatically he didn't like the way Jack had said 'your kind' as if they were an alien race.

"Shit, I am going to have to call in UNIT," Jack said more to himself.

"What's your plan then sir," Ianto said managing to keep his voice level even though tears were now stinging his eyes.

"First I am going to find my pants, then I am going to call in my team, and we are going to start tracking you all down. I can't allow for you all to travel through time. It's a threat to the human race," Jack said.

"We are part of the human race," Ianto said no longer holding back his tears; this wasn't how he had wanted Jack to respond.

"No, you're not," Jack said sternly.

"So are you going to lock me in a cell then, the man you love, just lock me in a cell, throw away the key?" Ianto said trying to keep his sobs at bay.

"Yes, but don't worry soon 107 of your closest friends will be joining you soon," Jack said though the last few words sounded a bit slurred. He locked eyes with Ianto and then looked at the empty coffee mug on his bedside table. "Oh you're clever, you retconned me," Jack said and then he stumbled forward. Ianto caught him before he fell to the floor and gently laid him back on the bed. Jack looked straight into his eyes. "This was a test run, and I failed didn't I?" Jack said.

"Yeah, maybe in the future you won't over react when I tell you," Ianto sobbed out.

"No Ianto you have to tell me, that many people traveling through time it's dangerous, it can mess with history, bring about the end of the universe we have to stop it from happening," Jack said his eyes starting to close.

"Jack there have been rift children for well over ten thousand years and there will be rift children until the end of time, nothing can prevent it, " Ianto whispered but Jack was already asleep.

Ianto took his clothes off again and crawled into bed next to Jack getting as close to the man as he could. The only consolation to Jack's over reaction was that when Ianto had claimed the man loved him, Jack hadn't denied it.

TW-TW-TW

"Okay what's got you so upset?" Tosh said cornering Ianto in the archives a month after Ianto had retconned Jack.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I am actually quite happy, Gwen is off on some field trip so I don't have to deal with the way she makes eyes at Jack, so yep quite happy," Ianto said trying to scoot around Tosh and failing.

"At least she just makes eyes at Jack, she is shagging Owen," Tosh said with a slight pout.

"Yeah, god what is her problem, she has a boyfriend, a fuck buddy, and she still wants Jack," Ianto said hoping trash talking Gwen would make Tosh forget about her original question.

Tosh sighed and shook her head, "It's not going to work Ianto, what is the problem?" she asked.

Ianto sighed he knew she wouldn't give up. He was kind of surprised he had been able to hold her off for a month. "I told Jack," he said quietly.

"Really, what did he say!" she asked excitedly.

"That he wanted to lock me and all other rift children in a cell," Ianto said pretending to straighten a box on a shelf behind him.

"Oh well you must have changed his mind seeing as you aren't in a cell," Tosh said.

"No, I retconned him," Ianto said weakly.

"Ianto I'm sorry, maybe we can try again, if I am there on your side we could probably make him see sense together," Tosh said sweetly.

"No Tosh, I am not going to try again, I will tell him in my future, not until then," Ianto said firmly.

"Okay it's your choice, I'm not going to force you," Tosh said.

Ianto smiled then looked up at the sound of footsteps. Owen came around the corner.

"Ianto take the day off tomorrow, it's an order, not a suggestion," he said then swiftly turned to leave.

"Why," Ianto called after him.

"Because I don't want you shooting up the coffee machine again, you need to take off tomorrow," Owen said.

"But what's to…" Ianto began but then remembered and he couldn't believe that he had forgotten. A year ago tomorrow his perfect world in London had come crashing down. "Okay," he said agreeing with the doctor. Torchwood was the last place he wanted to be tomorrow.

Ianto and Tosh both followed Owen out of the archives. Ianto went to the coffee machine and made a round of coffee. He delivered Tosh and Owen theirs first then went in to Jack's office and closed the door behind him. "Will you take the day off with me tomorrow, rift permitting?" Ianto spat out before he could stop himself.

"Depends, can I have that coffee?" Jack teased. Ianto handed it to him. "I would love to take the day off tomorrow. What's the plan Bond and dark chocolate?" Jack said.

"Sounds good," Ianto said happy that Sarah had moved into the flat next door last week.

"Alright it's a date," Jack said with a grin and then began to tell Ianto about a Dogon Sixth Eye that Gwen was trying to get for him.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto and Jack's date actually started that night with take away, then sex, then a movie, then 4 hours of sleep, followed by more sex. Ianto could almost forget that Jack would easily put him in a cell if he knew the truth. Especially when Jack was moving inside him making him feel like there was nothing else in the world, like no one else mattered, like they were the only two beings in the galaxy.

Ianto's alarm clock went off at 6 am like it usually did. "Shut it the fuck off," Ianto grunted in to his pillow.

"Okay, no need to cuss I'll turn it off," Jack laughed.

Ianto just grunted in reply. He felt Jack get off the bed and then the screeching noise coming from his alarm clock stopped. Ianto sighed in relief. Jack got back on the bed. Ianto closed his eyes and hoped to fall back to sleep.

"Fuck," Ianto yelled into his pillow when Jack suddenly pressed a lubed finger into him. Jack started to move it around obviously trying to find Ianto's sweet spot. It didn't take him long. Ianto found himself pushing against Jack's finger and moaning uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry did you want to go back to sleep," Jack teased.

"God no," Ianto moaned out.

Jack chuckled then entered another finger, "good cause it was growing hard to stare at your naked body and not touch it," Jack teased.

"Just do it Jack, please," Ianto begged.

"Turn around, I want to look at your face," Jack whispered.

Ianto turned on to his back and watched as Jack lubed up his erection. "Ready," Jack asked as he lined up with Ianto entrance.

"I am always ready for you," Ianto said and then Jack entered him and he lost his ability to speak coherently.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto was making omelets in his kitchen when someone knocked on his door. He heard Jack open it and then he heard the Welsh accent of Sarah drifting in.

"Ianto there is a blue eyed Welshwoman here to see you," Jack called.

"She is here to eat my food, not to see me," Ianto called back.

"That's not entirely true," Sarah said in close to perfect French joining Ianto in the kitchen, "I'd also like to drink your coffee."

"What is that French?" Jack said joining them in the kitchen and wrapping his arms around Ianto's waist.

"Yep," Sarah said.

They sat at a four-top table in the small dining room off of the kitchen and ate breakfast together. Ianto briefly explained that Sarah was his neighbor who also worked with Jason at his martial arts studio, which she now did three times a week. Ianto had noticed Jack's face stone over at the mention of Jason but it soon went back to his usual charming demeanor.

"Alright, I got to go deal with something right quick but I will be back right after I finish," Jack said after he received a text. Ianto figured it was Torchwood related. Jack gave Ianto a quick kiss on the head and then made his way out of the flat.

"So, he is hot," Sarah said as soon as Jack was gone.

"Yep," Ianto said as he got up and began to clear the table.

"I think I prefer green eyes though," Sarah said obviously trying to make it sound like an off-handed remark but all Ianto heard was 'I've got a thing for Jason.'

Ianto put the plates he had been holding down and leaned down so his face was even with Sarah's. "No, and that is the only discussion we are going to have about this, got it!"

"You can't tell me who I am allowed to like," Sarah said.

"He isn't relationship material Sarah, he won't be faithful to you, he will say he loves you then turn around and sleep with the whole of Cardiff, I am telling you no to protect you," Ianto said.

"What if all I want is to shag him?" Sarah asked.

Ianto put his hands over his face; Sarah had become like a little sister to him and the thought of Jason shagging her made his stomach curl. "Sarah, don't do it, and if you do, I want you to at least have the decency to pretend like you didn't," he said through his hands.

"Fine, it doesn't matter anyway, I am pretty sure he isn't interested," she mused.

Ianto highly doubted that was true but decided to change the subject rather than voice his opinion. Ianto put his hand back down and said, "I think we should start teaching you a new language, any requests?"

"Italian," Sarah answered.

"Okay, well when you see Jason today ask him if he can look and see if he still has the books I used to learn Italian," Ianto said as he picked up the dirty plates and headed to the kitchen.

"Its probably in your old room, that place is like a shrine dedicated to you," Sarah said following him.

"Yes, I am aware," Ianto said as he started to wash and Sarah started to dry.

"So the convention is going to be here this year," Sarah said.

"Damn, really," Ianto said.

The Children of the Rift held a convention every year. A big group all got together they discussed policy and events of the previous year. It always began the day after Christmas and ended on New Year's Eve.

"Yep, Jason isn't happy about it, says he is going to be housing the other leaders in his house personally," Sarah said.

"Yes, well Jason doesn't play well with others," Ianto said then sighed, "Man this sucks, why do they have to have it in Cardiff."

"The other leaders are insisting, they want to hear first-hand accounts about the Reveal Rebellion," Sarah said softly.

"Oh, are you maybe nervous then," Ianto asked shutting off the water.

"Yes," Sarah said looking down at her hands.

"Well don't be, I will be with you. The Minister himself has given you a second chance. No one is going to harm you. They will just ask you questions and you just need to answer truthfully, okay," Ianto said softly.

Sarah nodded, "Yeah, I just don't like, you know, speaking in front of others."

"Yeah, I understand that," Ianto said then left the kitchen because someone was knocking on the door.

"Hey, is Sarah here?" Jason said when Ianto answered the door.

"Yep. So when was I going to be informed about the convention?" Ianto said.

"Today apparently," Jason smirked. "Sarah let's go baby!" he yelled then over Ianto's shoulder.

"Don't call her that!" Ianto snapped.

Jason chuckled, "What jealous, I can start calling you baby again if you want."

"Jason I am serious," Ianto warned.

"What are you serious about," Sarah said coming up behind Ianto and slipping out the door.

"Nothing," Ianto and Jason said in unison both glaring at each other.

"Alright you two can glare at each other in your own time, let's go Jace," Sarah said grabbing Jason's hand and tugging him down the walk.

Ianto closed his door and tried to ignore the real jealousy that had risen up when Sarah had called Jason, Jace. Ianto use to use that nickname with the other man especially if he wanted something. Ianto pushed those memories away and began to set up for his and Jack's Bond marathon.

TW-TW-TW

It was nearly three hours later before Jack finally came back. Ianto had had time to look through his album of photos from his time in London, remembering not only Lisa but the 6 other rift children who had worked beside him. He had laughed and cried as he went through the pictures having only one big break down. By the time Jack came in Ianto had composed himself and had put the album away.

"Sorry it took so long, you know how Gwen can be," Jack said sitting down next to Ianto on the couch.

"That's okay," Ianto smiled.

"Ianto you remember before the camping trip of hell when I told you that I knew where the missing people in Cardiff go?" Jack said.

"Yeah," Ianto said wondering if Jack had recognized Sarah as one of the missing persons.

"I think it's about time I share with you what I meant. You up for a boat ride?" Jack said.

"Depends, is that an innuendo for sex?" Ianto asked.

"Nope," Jack said with a slight grin.

"Damn," Ianto pouted, "Okay let's go for an actual boat ride, just one rule, don't laugh at me for staying in the middle of the boat."

TW-TW-TW

Ianto came into his flat and placed his keys and wallet into the bowl on his entry table. Jack followed in behind him and closed and locked the door to the flat. The two hadn't spoken since they had left Flat Holm Island.

"I'm sorry," Jack whispered into Ianto's ear as he wrapped his arms around the Welshman from behind.

"Those poor people, the rift I didn't realize it was… I mean I should have, but I just…. God those poor people," Ianto said.

"I'm sorry Ianto, I shouldn't have shown you," Jack said sounding ashamed.

Ianto turned around in Jack's arms, "Don't be sorry Jack, you don't need to carry that burden alone, I am just still in shock a little bit. Come on let's go to bed," Ianto whispered against Jack's cheek.

Jack nodded and let out a small sob, "Thanks Ianto, you are brilliant," he said and then led Ianto to the bedroom.


	30. Chapter 30

AN: First let me thank my Beta Inusagi, she really helped me with this chapter. Next let me thank Ele84 for giving me a great idea involving the rift victims. Hope you all like this chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

Spoilers: not any really

Warnings: bit of smut, (not much),

Chapter 30

Ianto hated boats. Well, actually he hated riding in boats and now he had agreed to make a journey on a boat once a month, just because he loved Jack Harkness.

"Those rails are sturdy, you know," the old boat captain Sawyer called to Ianto, "You don't have to cling to the middle so tightly—you won't fall in."

"Yes, well…" Ianto said looking out at the murky water and instantly regretting it, "I am not going to take any chances." Every time Ianto looked at the water he had flash backs of Jason throwing him in. Ianto would take shock therapy any day over getting into that water again.

"So, what are all these boxes for?" Sawyer asked.

"Classified," Ianto answered. In reality, all the boxes contained were medical supplies but Ianto knew that if he answered the question truthfully the man would just come up with more questions.

"Yeah, that's what the other fellow said too. I was hoping maybe you wouldn't be as uptight," the sailor said. Ianto smiled slightly at the prospect of someone thinking Jack was uptight.

Ianto sighed in relief when he finally saw Flat Holm Island. Soon he would have solid ground beneath his feet.

"Four hours, as usual?" Sawyer asked as he pulled up to the pier.

"Yes," Ianto said. He could already see the orderlies already heading out to greet them and presumably carry the supplies into the facility.

"Ianto, is it that time of the month already?" asked a heavy set nurse as soon as Ianto stepped off the boat. Ianto had met her on his first visit to the island with Jack, her name was Helen.

"Yep," Ianto deftly side stepped her hug and offered his hand, which she shook cheerfully.

"Well, it's good to see you again! Come, I was just about to make rounds. I can update you on their conditions as we go," she said with a big smile.

The last thing Ianto wanted to do was see the patients. He wasn't even in the facility yet and he could already feel their pain. "Of course," Ianto said to Helen, indicating she should lead the way.

Ianto followed the nurse into the underground hospital. He attempted to block out the various forms of pain he was receiving from being this close to the victims of the Rift.

The first room they stopped at had the name Alice written on a small chalk board hanging on the door.

"Alice dear, how are you feeling today?" Helen asked as she and Ianto entered into the room.

Standing in the middle of the room was a girl no older than 15. She had a pixie haircut and she was holding her arms against her chest. Her hair was bright white, but her most terrifying and beautiful feature was her eyes. They held no pupil or iris; they were just a plain, glowing white. It was as if her eyes had been replaced with 150 watt light bulbs.

Alice let out a small hum as an answer to Helen's question.

"Well that's nice," Helen said.

The closer Ianto got to the girl, the more white light clouded his vision and the louder the high-pitched ringing in his ears would become. He tried to pay close attention to what Helen was doing and saying so she wouldn't know what kind of effect Alice was having on him.

"Alice communicates through a series of hums. If it's a pleasant one, she is happy. If it is irritating, she's upset. She has certain sounds for letting us know her basic needs. All-in-all, she is one of our most promising patients." Helen smiled lovingly at Alice.

Ianto knew that Jack had made the right choice choosing Helen to run the facility. He could tell she cared deeply for her patients.

Suddenly Alice turned her head toward Ianto. "_Ahh,_" she sang in the most beautiful voice Ianto had ever heard. The ringing in his head lessened. Alice reached her hand towards Ianto and before he could stop himself he stepped forward and took her hand, tears streaming from his eyes. Alice was the very picture of an angel.

"She likes you," Helen said.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto got back to his flat late that night. He was both mentally and physically exhausted. The last thing he wanted to deal with was finding Jason and Sarah making out in front of her flat.

"I am pretty sure I told you not to do that," Ianto said crossing his arms over his chest and staring intently at Jason and Sarah.

"You could join," Jason teased. Ianto wasn't amused.

"Are you and Adrian done, then?" Ianto said thinking of the blond from the night Sarah had come back.

"No," Jason said no sense of shame in his voice.

Ianto caught the look of shame pass over Sarah's face, even though it was brief.

"I told you, didn't I?" Ianto said to her. She didn't look at him or Jason—she just opened her flat door and went in, leaving both men standing outside.

"I don't see why this is a big deal," Jason said.

"No, you wouldn't, would you?" Ianto snarked, unlocking his own door. He sighed when Jason forced his way in as well.

"Well, tell me why it's a big deal and then maybe I would understand," Jason said as he turned and locked Ianto's front door.

"Jason, I am really tired and I don't feel like fighting with you tonight. Maybe I can pencil you in next week…let's say…the second Tuesday,"

"Here's a hint: there is no second Tuesday," called an American accent from Ianto's bedroom. Ianto couldn't help the small grin that came to his face when he saw a shirtless Jack leaning against the doorway.

"You gave him a key?" Jason accused. Ianto saw a tiny bit of outrage in his eyes.

"He is my boyfriend," Ianto said, reopening the front door. "And if you don't mind, I haven't seen him all day so…" Ianto continued gesturing toward the now open door.

"Of course, you ruined my fun but I'll be respectful and not do the same to you," Jason growled, then left.

"How did you ruin his fun?" Jack asked as Ianto closed and relocked the front door.

"Just let Sarah see him for what he really is," Ianto answered, turning to smile at his lover. "Now, what are you doing in my flat?"

"Well a little birdy told me…." Jack started.

"Is its name Tosh?"

"Yes." Jack said with mock irritation, "Anyway, a little birdy told me you are turning 24 tomorrow and I thought it would be easier to deliver your birthday spankings if I slept over."

"Well, I don't really partake in the whole birthday spankings tradition," Ianto answered. _Not since I left for London, anyway_, Ianto thought.

"Yeah, well you do now," Jack said seductively as he began to walk slowly towards Ianto, "In fact, maybe I need to make up for all the ones you've missed throughout the years tonight."

Ianto pointed a finger at Jack in warning. "Don't you dare!" He started to back away.

"Oh, I think I dare!" The captain lunged towards Ianto, who managed to get out of the way just in time. He scurried unashamedly behind his couch.

"Jack, that would be two hundred and ninety-nine spankings if you use the one to grow by tradition!" Ianto yelped.

"Well, good! I'll deliver twenty a night until you are all caught up," Jack said lunging again, this time catching Ianto and bending him over the couch.

"Jack, if you value your penis you will let me go," Ianto warned though he was laughing.

"It grows back," Jack said nonchalantly then smacked Ianto's ass. "There's one." Jack lifted Ianto up and turned him around. "I am going to get those trousers off before I give you the next 19." He growled and kissed Ianto hard.

The Welshman yelled out when Jack threw him over his shoulder. He found himself being taken into his room. "Jack, what have you done to my room?" What looked like rose petals were scattered all over the floor.

"Made it romantic," Jack teased as he dropped Ianto onto the bed.

He took a better look around and noticed the candlelight. Jack turned the light off and the room was doused in a soft glow.

"You're aware that I am a man, right?"

Jack sat on the bed and ran his hand over Ianto's crotch. "_Very_ aware."

TW-TW-TW

"So how was your night?" Tosh asked with a sneaky grin when Ianto handed her a coffee.

"Fine, thank you," Ianto answered, trying not to blush and failing.

"Oh, you're welcome," Tosh said with a grin. "Here—I got you this." She grabbed a small box from her desk. Ianto smiled as he opened it. Inside was a pair of silver cufflinks in the shape of small stopwatches.

"Thank you, Tosh they are lovely," Ianto said softly, quickly replacing the ones he had been wearing with the new ones.

Ianto enjoyed the rest of his birthday at work. Owen got him a bag of gourmet coffee and Gwen, in a surprising act of kindness, had given him a gift card to his favorite tailor. Jack waited until the others had gone out to give Ianto his gift. It was a blue leather bound diary.

"I hear it is healthy to write about things. You know, when you don't like to talk about them," Jack had said nervously. Ianto loved it.

It was nearly midnight when Ianto opened the door to his flat. He was surprised to see that he had company. Sarah, Aria, Jason, baby Ruby, and surprisingly enough Iden, all sat around his living room.

"You're lucky Jack didn't decide to come home with me," Ianto said looking at his second family.

"Well, you know we had inside knowledge," Iden said with an eye roll.

Aria hopped off the couch and handed Ianto a small square box with a cheerful "Happy birthday!"

"Thank you," Ianto said, opening the box. It was a grey tie that had hot pink polka dots all over it. Ianto tried to hold in a small chuckle that the tie induced, but Aria caught it. She turned around and glared at Iden.

"You said you liked it!"

"I do like it," Iden and Ianto said at the same time.

"Oh, the receipt is on the bottom, take it back," Aria said with an eye roll.

"Red is his color," Jason chimed in. Aria smiled sweetly at him while she flipped him off.

"Pink is actually a shade of red, if you want to get technical," Sarah added.

"Whose side are you on?" Jason said narrowing his eyes at Sarah.

Ianto rolled his eyes and picked up baby Ruby who was pulling up onto his entertainment center. "What did you get me, Princess?" he asked her in a baby talk tone. She let out a happy scream. "Oh I love it, baby laughs are the best," he said then kissed her cheek.

"Da," the baby squealed.

"I bet she has another gift for you if you check," Aria teased.

"Did you hear that your mum wants you? That's what she said!" Ianto said again in a baby talk voice before handing the baby to Aria, who headed to the bedroom to change her.

Ianto sat down on the couch between Jason and Sarah. Sarah handed him a card. "Hallmark doesn't really make a 'Happy Birthday, Guardian' card but I found this one," Sarah said.

It was a happy birthday big brother card. Inside was a gift cared to the only take-away coffee shop he could stand and his charge had written a small note of thanks for looking after her. Small words underneath the note read: _p.s. I promise to listen to your advice from now on. _

"Thank you, Sarah," Ianto said, pulling her in for a brief hug.

"I didn't get you anything," Iden said. "But I have decided to tell you something."

"And what would that be?"

"One day, you will understand what it is like to be a girl," Iden said, looking entirely too amused.

Ianto laughed out loud then rolled his eyes. "Oh good, that sounds exciting!"

"Well I got you something, and if you kick all these losers out…well, let's keep Iden, but kick all the rest out and I'll give it to you," Jason said with a wink.

"That sounds more like a gift for you," Ianto said.

"Well, now you are just being selfish!"

"Yep, so what did you really get me?"

"A new suit. It's already in your closet," Jason pouted. "Why don't you go put it on and then we can kick everyone out. You know, I'd be happy if we just kicked out the little snot and its mum."

"Watch it," Ianto and Iden said together.

Aria came back into the living room then, sitting on Iden's lap. "It's a bit creepy when you two do that," She smiled lovingly between the identical men before turning to Ianto. "Ruby is asleep on your bed, hope you don't mind."

"That's fine."

"Okay, birthday fun's over. Let's talk about the convention," Jason said, "Aria, how are the New Year's Eve party plans going?"

"Great! I have the tents and I have set up catering with a rift child. It'll all be simple-type finger foods so we won't need a whole wait staff…" Aria began and continued to tell them all about the boring details surrounding the final party. For the next two hours they discussed the different meetings and committees that would be conducted throughout the week, along with details for all the visitors' accommodations.

"Okay, so that's the itinerary figured out. Ianto, we're going to need you the whole week—is there any way you can take off without it being a risk?" Jason asked.

"I can claim that I'm going to my sister's. I would need to park my car there, though. Jack has a tracker on it," Ianto said.

"No, that won't work. Try again," Iden said.

"You could make it easy and tell me what _would_ work," Ianto sniped at…well, at himself.

"Yeah, but then I would have never come up with the idea and then I wouldn't have the idea to tell you. See? Timey-whimey stuff. So, as I said, try again."

Ianto sighed and rolled his eyes. He thought for a moment before he looked at Jason. "Why do you need me the whole week?"

"Because half of the meetings have to deal with Torchwood," Jason said.

"Well, Iden can answer. You know he was there, too," he dodged.

"Wrong, try again," Iden said, now casually playing with Aria's hair.

"A week vacation in Paris?" Ianto tried.

"Closer," Iden said.

"How about Alaska? It's cold there. Jack hates the cold."

"Yes, but why would you want to go there?" Iden asked, rolling his eyes.

"I don't," he conceded, then bit his lip. "Oh, I know! I have an aunt in Scotland. I can say I'm going to visit her." He was actually quite proud of himself. "Oh, that's perfect. God, I'm brilliant!"

Iden just chuckled and rolled his eyes again.

"Okay, so to save money, you have Jack drop you at the airport. I mean we'll already have to buy you a plane ticket; we shouldn't have to pay for parking, too. Then I'll pick you up."

"Sounds good. Alright, we need to leave. Jack's going to be here in about 15 minutes," Iden said, heading to his old room to retrieve the baby.

TW-TW-TW

The next three months practically zoomed by. Ianto was amazed when he looked at his calendar and saw that it was already the 19th of December. Sarah had mastered Italian and was about to master German. She and Jason seemed to be getting along, but as far as Ianto knew they weren't doing anything else. Not that he was stupid enough to believe that.

All the details for the upcoming convention seemed to have been ironed out. Aria was a good party planner, it seemed. Jason's second, who Ianto just found out was Adrian—the young blond boy-toy was actually 175 years old—had had made all the necessary arrangements for all the 200 or so out of town guests. Most of them were boarding with local rift children. Even Sarah was going to be hosting one and, to Ianto's horror, three would be staying in his flat. He wouldn't be allowed to go there.

No, he would be staying the whole week at Jason's mansion; in his old room. Ianto tried not to think about that too much.

On a lighter note, Ruby had started walking.


	31. Chapter 31

AN: Let me start off again with a big thank to my Beta, Inusagi, she's really improving my grammar, and my lingo, and surprisingly my understanding of the English language. Also I would like to thank iantojjackh for her help in creating the leader of the Las Vegas Rift. He is quite a character. As always leave me those beautiful comments. They brighten my day!

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

Rating: MA or R

Spoilers: 'Out Of Time'

Warnings: Smut.

Chapter 31

It was Christmas morning, but it was anything but merry. Ianto was supposed to go to his sister's last night to wake up and have Christmas with his niece and nephew before Jack took him to the airport for his flight that he wasn't actually going to take. Instead, he had been stuck at the hub all night.

John Ellis a time traveler, who hadn't wanted to be a time traveler, had decided to top himself in Ianto's car. Jack and Ianto had spent all night cleaning up after him. What really made Ianto angry was the fact that Jack had sat beside John as the carbon monoxide had entered his lungs and had died too.

"What if you only have a set number of lives Jack?" Ianto growled as he and the other man set John's body in a morgue bed.

"Well, I am pretty sure if that was true I'd have run out by now," sighed the older man.

"You can't know that!" Ianto ran his hand through his hair and tried to calm down.

"Ianto, I'm fine. Everything is okay." Jack tried to pull his young lover into a hug.

The angry Welshman pushed him away. "Everything is not okay! My car is ruined. The presents that I bought for my niece and nephew were in the boot and are now also ruined. I should be with them right now, watching them open their gifts. Instead, I'm here with you because you decided Christmas Eve would be the perfect night to let a man kill himself in my car!"

"I'm sorry, Ianto." Jack whispered so softly Ianto almost didn't hear it.

Ianto took a deep breath. "I am going to go take a shower and then I need you to take me to my sister's so I can at least give them money in exchange for the gifts. After that, it'll be time for you to take me to the airport."

"Okay," Jack agreed, looking down at his feet.

TW-TW-TW

It was silent in the car as Jack drove Ianto to the airport. Ianto bit his lip and stared out the window. "Alright, Jack, I'm sorry," Ianto blurted, no longer able to take the tension.

"No, Ianto. I'm sorry," Jack said hastily, "You didn't do anything wrong."

"You didn't either. It's not as though you planned for John to kill himself. I was just stressed out this morning. Please, just say you forgive me before I get on that plane," Ianto begged.

Jack sighed heavily as he pulled the SUV into a parking spot. He looked at his watch, "We're about 20 minutes early. Do you want to have a round of make-up sex in the back?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Ianto leaned forward to capture Jack's lips. He pulled back and wasted no time pulling off his t-shirt. He undid the button on his jeans and slid them down his hips, along with his pants, keeping his eyes locked with Jack's the whole time. Once he was completely undressed he crawled into towards the back of the SUV. "Are you just going to stare or are you planning on joining me?"

Jack growled and began to rip off his own clothes before joining Ianto in the back seat. The immortal grabbed the bottle of lube he kept under the seat and quickly prepared himself before sliding onto his favorite part of the Welshman. Ianto hadn't been expecting to top but didn't complain. He just held onto Jack's hips while the man rode him, thanking God for the gift that was Jack Harkness.

TW-TW-TW

"How much?" Jason yelled through the window of his Land Rover pulling up to the curb where Ianto was waiting for him.

Ianto rolled his eyes. "You can't afford it." He placed his suitcase in the back seat and hopped into the passenger seat.

"I bet I could," the older man chirped as he pulled away from the airport. "Have any issues this morning?"

"No, I asked Tosh to fake a rift alert as soon as we got to the airport so he came and went rather quickly." Ianto laughed inwardly at his small joke. In reality, Ianto had been concerned that Jack would want to see him all the way to the plane.

"Oh good. Tosh knows about the convention, then."

"Is that a problem?"

"No, I mean it could come in handy if anything goes astray." Jason honked his horn at a car that had pulled in front of him. The man in the car gave Jason the finger. "Oh well, there's Christmas spirit for ya!"

"So, you seem cheerful," Ianto deadpanned then got serious. "He had the right of way you know."

"I know how to drive, Jones."

Ianto rolled his eyes. "So, _is_ something going to go astray?"

"I don't know. Iden is being cryptic as hell about it, as usual. I mean, he wasn't always like that, just ever since I found you. Before that, he was as clueless about what was going to happen as the rest of us."

"Well, one day he'll be clueless again." Ianto sighed in relief as they got onto open road.

"I don't want to think about that day Ianto. I know you'll still be here, that I won't actually be losing you but…it really is going to feel like that because I see you as two separate people, even if you are the same."

Ianto didn't know what to say to that.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto opened the door to his old home and was greeted with the sound of a baby laughing and running down the hall. Ruby was only wearing a diaper and was being chased by Tink. Ianto put his suitcase down and knelt so Ruby could find safety in his arms.

"Da-da," she squealed. Ianto tickled her tummy and she laughed harder. He put her down as Jason was closing the front door. "Side," she said pointing at the door.

"Yes, that's outside, but you can't go out there like that. You'll catch a cold," Jason said to her sternly.

She looked at him almost quizzically for a moment then put her hands in the air, "Up!"

Jason rolled his eyes but picked the baby up nonetheless. Ianto smiled. Kids could always see straight through his guardian's tough outer shell.

Ianto looked down at Tink, who was mimicking his expression. "How have you been, Tink?"

"Great! I love retirement!" she squeaked happily.

They walked towards the kitchen, where they found Aria and Sarah, along with a few people Ianto had never met making dinner. Aria saw Jason and Ruby first. "Where are her clothes? Iden said he would dress her. The other Leaders are going to be here soon."

"I thought they got here yesterday?" Ianto asked.

"They did," Tink said, "The blond kid took them for a tour of the city."

"His name is Adrian, and he's older than you," Jason stated handing Ruby off to Aria who quickly raced out of the room.

"I don't care what his name is," Tink said, "Can I help with anything, Sarah?"

Ianto sensed that Tink had an issue with Adrian.

"That's okay, ma'am, we've got it," Sarah said sweetly.

TW-TW-TW

There was tension in the formal dining room and it was coming from Ianto's older self. Ianto looked around the huge table that Jason and he had only used for one purpose when he lived in the house. It hadn't been for eating.

Iden sat at the head of the table looking at ease, but Ianto knew better. A long time ago, Ianto had learned to hide his real emotions with certain facial features. The small smile on Iden's face gave him away. The man was stressed out.

Aria sat on Iden's right, she had on a pink semi-formal dress and her make-up and hair looked like a professional had done it. Ruby sat in a high chair between her parents, wearing a miniature dress that looked exactly like her mother's.

Sitting next to Aria was Liam the leader of the Australian Rift. He looked like a 12 year old boy but was well over 200 years old, though according to Jason he'd only been in this time for going on 20 years. Ianto wondered if the boy had lied about his age so he could move up the ranks faster. Not that that would work. It wasn't about how old you were, it was about how long you had been in this particular life and also how qualified you were in other endeavors.

Next to the 12 year old who wasn't a 12 year old was what Ianto could only describe in his head as an Amazon woman, much like Wonder Woman. Her hair was black and her shoulders were broad. Ianto didn't want to get on her bad side. Her name was Amynome and she was the 12 year old's second-in-command. She'd informed Ianto that she liked to be called Amy.

The Peruvian leader Xander sat next to the Amazon. Ianto had seen the man glare at him and Iden on several occasions. Jason had told Ianto that the man was the guardian of Humberto Polo, the man Ianto had relocated by snapping his neck. Ianto figured he would do more than glare at someone if they snapped Sarah's neck, so he let it go. His second-in-command was a red headed girl with pale skin and bright red lips named Scarlet. Ianto tried not to look at her too much—Aria had caught him staring when he first met the woman and had slapped Iden on the arm in response.

Next to the Peruvians were the Massachusetts American's in this case it was the second-in-command, Gina, that had glared at Ianto and Iden. Ianto could still remember the look on their ambassador's face when he injected him full of weevil sedative. The leader of the Massachusetts Rift, Mia, was a bubbly blond who spoke with a Texas drawl. She was the only one at the table wearing jeans and she seemed to know Iden quite well.

Adrian sat next to the Americans and Jason sat at the end of the table. Ianto was on Jason's other side, Sarah sat beside him, Tink next to her, and much to Ianto's surprise, Joy Parker. Ianto couldn't look at her without thinking about the pictures in the file he had destroyed.

Next to Parker sat the Las Vegas Americans. The leader was a man by the name of Maximillion, who wore a suit that seemed to be tailored by the gods and he seemed to be a man who demanded respect. Jason, of course, didn't give it to him. He kept calling him Maxi, despite the man's constant reminders that his name was Maximillion. Maxi's second, a man named Ryan, looked like he could be the leader of the CIA. His skin was a chocolate brown and his clothing was all black. He'd been wearing dark sunglasses before they sat down at the table. Now, Ianto could see that he had eyes almost the same shade of green as Jason's.

Next came the Germans. Carolack was the second-in-command and Zvart was the leader. Carolack was an older looking woman—possibly around 40—and Zvart was a jolly man that made Ianto think of Santa. Next to Zvart was Iden again.

"You have a beautiful home, Jason," Joy said to break the awkward; overbearing silence that had befallen the table after a few assistants had served them their food.

"Thank you, Joy," Jason said, "I had it remodeled about 10 years ago, I was thinking it might need an update."

"Is that what Cardiff wastes money on—extravagant homes?" snapped Gina.

"Oh, leave it to an American to find fault in extravagance," Jason said taking a sip of his wine.

"Leave it to an oppressor to find someone guilty without a fair trial!" the woman spat back. Ianto felt the whole room freeze.

"Gina!" Mia warned her second.

"Minister, may I be excused?" Gina said looking down at her plate.

"Yes," Iden said sternly. She got up and left dining room. What was Christmas without a little family drama?

The leader of the Berlin rift started to tell Iden a funny story about one of his children and the tension in the room seemed to ease up a bit.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto sighed in relief when he closed the door of his old bedroom behind him. He leaned his head against the white wood surface for a moment before turning on the light and looking around. The bookshelves still held all the pictures of Jason and him, just as he had left them years ago. The only way Ianto knew that someone had been in the room was the fact that there was no dust.

Ianto went to the small bathroom and took a much needed shower. This was starting out to be one exhausting week and this was only the first day.

Ianto was greeted with the sound of the Crazy Frog Song as soon as he got out of the shower. It took him a second to register that it was coming from his phone. He and Jack had a long lasting prank war going on, at the moment it was to change the others ring tone to the most annoying song possible.

The Welshman rolled his eyes as he wrapped his towel around him and ran to answer the call. "Crazy frog, really?"

"Yeah, did your aunt hear it?" Jack's voice asked.

"No, she's already asleep," Ianto propped the phone between his shoulder and ear while he continued to dry himself off.

"What are you doin'?," Jack asked.

"Drying off, I just got out of the shower."

"Oh, so you're naked, then."

Ianto rolled his eyes. "Well, I didn't shower in my clothes."

"Oh, let's have phone sex," Jack's excitement could be heard through the phone.

"Yes, because we're sixteen."

"Come on, you teased me by telling me you were naked," Jack begged.

Ianto could see the man's pouting face in his head. He sighed "Alright, where are you and what are you wearing?"

"I'm in bed and I'm naked."

"This was your plan all along wasn't it?" Ianto laid down on top of his bed.

"You caught me."

"Alright, close your eyes," Ianto closed his eyes as well.

"Okay," Jack breathed.

"I am lying beside you Jack, my hands massaging your chest. I'm paying special attention to your nipples. I'm rubbing my thumbs over them until they are hard, then I gently squeeze them between my thumb and forefinger."

Jack let out a moan, "God, Ianto I could cum just from your voice."

Ianto chuckled. "My hands are moving lower now, Jack, brushing my fingers lightly over your abs and moving to your hips, I don't touch your obvious erection yet because I know you like to be teased and I am not one to disappoint. Instead, I run my nails down your inner thighs over and over until you are begging me to touch you." Ianto was slowly stroking his own erection now.

"Please touch me, Ianto," Jack begged.

Ianto moaned, "I'm stroking you now, Jack, with that pace I know you like, not too fast and not too slow, just the right amount of friction to take you to the edge."

"Yes, I like that, baby, so fucking much," Jack moaned.

Ianto could hear Jacks breathing becoming erratic and he upped the speed on his own stroking. The two only communicated through a series of moans and growls.

"Jack!" Ianto basically yelled out when he came. Ianto heard his own name come from his phone and he knew Jack was coming as well.

For a few minutes, both men were silent. The only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of their breaths returning to a normal speed. "Something tells me that wasn't your first phone sex rodeo," Jack said after a moment, breaking the silence.

"Lisa and I did it a lot before we moved in together," Ianto said, surprised that the memory only made him smile and held no pain. "She didn't want to rush things by moving in together too fast."

"Gotta love those old fashioned girls," Jack teased.

Ianto smiled slightly. "I did."

"You still do. You don't stop loving someone just because they die. Believe me, I know," Jack said gently. There was a moment of silence then he added, "She must've been amazing for you to love her so deeply."

"_You're_ amazing Jack," Ianto whispered, wiping a silent tear from his cheek.

"So are you," Jack whispered back. Ianto felt like it was as good as Jack saying he loved him.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto had a sense of déjà vu when he woke up the next morning. He half expected to find Jason standing at the foot of his bed telling it was time to run, but thankfully he wasn't. He stood up and stretched out before dressing in a t-shirt and a pair of track bottoms.

"Babies don't throw mushed bananas, Ruby," Aria was saying when Ianto walked into the kitchen. Ruby was sitting in her high chair and had what must have been mushed bananas gripped in her tiny fist. She threw them at her mum as if to prove that babies did indeed throw mushed bananas.

Ianto couldn't help the laugh that came out of him. Aria turned and stared at him sternly. "Don't encourage her."

"I'm sorry, she is just so adorable," Ianto said heading to the fridge.

"Well here is a sight I never thought I'd see again," Jason's voice called when Ianto was bent over into the fridge trying to find the milk.

"What, a Welshman's ass? I'm sure you'll see plenty in your future," Ianto said placing the milk on the counter and inspecting the coffee maker. Jason walked over and pinned Ianto against the counter.

"I wouldn't touch Iden's coffee maker if I was you," He whispered in Ianto's ear.

"Jason, Ruby is in this room. Kindly step away from him," Aria warned. Jason gently nipped Ianto's neck then backed away.

"So the Las Vegas Rift is going to bring the idea of somehow getting a type of Torchwood in Nevada at today's meeting. Maxi says that they've been battling Weevils, seems their Rift is becoming more active by the day. You need to be there for that," Jason said to Ianto while getting out his blender.

"Oh, joy," Ianto said.

TW-TW-TW

The top floor of the Sim's mansion was one large open area. Ianto had hardly gone up there when he lived in the mansion and for today it had been transformed into what looked to Ianto like a make shift court room.

At one end of the room was a long board table with a small podium set up in the middle of it. The rest of the room was filled with chairs. Quite a few people were already occupying the seats, all excited to witness the first official meeting of the convention.

Maxi and Ryan were already seated, along with Iden, Jason, and Adrian. Ianto wasn't sure where he was supposed to sit. Iden answered that question by looking up at him and pointing to the seat next to Adrian at the table. Ianto quickly made his way to sit. He couldn't even look at the blond without blushing.

Tink caught his eye from the front row of chairs as he sat down and smiled sweetly at him, before scowling at Adrian.

"What did you do to Tink?" Ianto whispered to Adrian.

"Slept with Jason," Adrian said.

"That can't be it. She'd hate almost everyone if that was true," Ianto said.

Jason put down the paper he was reading and looked over at them. "What's that supposed to mean, Jones."

"That you're a slut," Ianto said bluntly.

"Okay, just clarifying," Jason said then turned back to his paper work.

Adrian chuckled, "No, she thinks that the only reason Jason made me his second is because I slept with him. Apparently, she wanted him to choose someone else."

"Oh, who?" Ianto said.

"You, Jones. She wanted me to save you from Torchwood," Jason said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, that's just unreasonable. It took us a long time to get back into Torchwood. It'd be stupid to pull me out of it," Ianto said.

"Yeah, well…" Adrian said with a shrug of his shoulder.

Sarah walked up to the table then and bent over to whisper into Ianto's ear. "Tosh just called me and wanted me to remind you that she has the ability to overhear your phones calls to Jack."

Ianto giggled, "Tell her I am very sorry and that just because she can doesn't mean she has to." Tosh was using her genius tech skills to make sure that if Jack called Ianto, the call would register from his aunt's home in Scotland.

Sarah looked at him blankly for a moment, then something must have clicked in her head. "Oh, god!" She yelled. Ianto laughed as Sarah went to sit next to Tink, her face now a bright shade of red.

A few people came up to the table then and started to attach small microphones to Ianto and the rest of the people at the table. They had them each test them to make sure they could be clearly heard around the room. By the time that was done most of the vacant chairs had been filled with Rift Children.

Jason got up, winked at Adrian and Ianto, and went to stand behind the podium. He put his papers down onto its surface. "Hello, everyone, if you could all take your seats, we can get started."

There was some murmuring and shuffling before everyone was quiet and they were ready to begin.

"I would like to start off by welcoming all of our out-of-town guests. I know I represent every member of the Cardiff Rift when I say we are honored to host this year's convention. I would also like to invite you all to the opening ceremony tonight. These conventions aren't just about the meetings. They are also a way for us to get to know members of other Rifts, so please come out tonight. Eat, drink, and be merry. I will now give the floor over to our Minister, Iden Miller."

Iden went to the podium and straightened his tie. "Thank you, Jason," he said with a fake smile. Ianto could tell Jason had done something to piss his older self off. "Today's meetings will be focused solely on the needs and issues of the Las Vegas Rift. In this first one, we will go over the most important issue. I would like to point out that comments and ideas are accepted at certain times. You will need to raise your hand during those times and a microphone will be brought to you. I _will_ have you thrown out if you try and comment while someone is speaking. For those of you who have attended these meetings before, you know I am not bluffing.

"So to begin the Las Vegas Rift has become more active over the last year. There have been a series of alien sightings. Thus far, the Rift Children themselves have been taking care of the issue. Today we need to decide if we are going to let them continue to handle it on their own or if we are going to tip off a government agency about it. Maximillion, if you would like to begin," Iden gestured towards the man.

Maxi stayed in his seat and began, "I believe that Rift Children of Las Vegas already have too much on their plates. We need to bring in outside help."

Ianto raised his hand. Iden smiled at him.

"You're part of the table. You don't need to raise your hand," Adrian whispered. Ianto put his hand down.

"If you do bring in 'outside help,' sir, it will only add to the amount of work you will have to do, not take away from it," Ianto said as polite as he could.

"So, you're saying there has never been a time when Cardiff wasn't happy to have Torchwood," Ryan said.

"Oh, of course there have, but there have been many more times when we weren't," Jason said.

"If you are so unhappy with Torchwood, why not take them out?" Maxi asked.

"Because it's an unnecessary risk and barbaric," Ianto answered.

"Of course, because Torchwood _isn't_ barbaric," Ryan said.

Ianto felt fire run threw his blood. Jason looked at him and narrowed his eyes in warning. Ianto bit his tongue and sat back.

"We aren't here to discuss Torchwood Cardiff." Iden said firmly looking between Ianto and Ryan. "I have to say that my vote falls to set up Rift children in Las Vegas to do the job that Torchwood does here. Just like it is an unnecessary risk to take out Torchwood here in Cardiff, it is also too much of a risk to let them know about Nevada's alien problems. I will open the floor up for comments, however."

Joy Parker was the first to raise her hand. Ianto bit his lip. Whatever she had to say wouldn't be good. A sound guy brought her a microphone. "I would like to say that I agree with the Minister. I am sure you are all aware of who I am, and about my brief stay at Torchwood. The director then was horrible. Of course, I would like to point out that Jack Harkness, the current director, is nothing like that woman. He saved me the only way he could and I will be eternally grateful to him. But he is an exception to the rule. If you were to bring in a form of Torchwood, there's no telling what they would be like. You would be running the risk of someone falling into their hands much like I did. You can't possibly want that." She handed the microphone back to the sound guy and sat back down. Ianto couldn't help the smile that grew onto his face at learning that Jack had saved Joy and not tortured her. He also noticed a small smile on Iden's face as well when the man briefly looked at him.

"Right now, I am risking Rift Children every day!" Maxi snapped.

"So you would prefer normal humans, who are much more fragile, to risk their only lives?" Ianto asked.

"They aren't my concern," Maxi retorted. "We have a responsibility to our own kind."

Ianto was reminded of Jack's words before he had Retconned him. _How many of your kind are in my city?_

"Maxi, you have a point," Iden said calmly, "our main goal is to protect Rift Children from detection, bringing in some government agency would be too risky. Therefore, in order to protect our own kind, I have reached the decision that we will be setting up our own team in Las Vegas. I will overlook the project myself."

"Are we not a democracy?" Maxi shouted. Ianto held his breath as several body guards that were located along the wall stood up from their chairs.

Iden held up his hand to urge them to sit back down, "We are, Max, of course. I believe you were one of the members that elected me nearly 75 years ago. These are merely decisions that I was elected to make."

"Maybe it's time you retire?" Maxi said standing up. The body guards scrambled to their feet again. What Maximillian had just said was as good as a death threat. Iden didn't put up his hand to stop the guards this time but he did take off his microphone and walk over to whisper in Maxi's ear. Ianto saw the man's face turn white. Ianto desperately wanted to know what his older self had said to scare the man so badly.

Iden walked back to the podium and placed the microphone back in place before waving the body guards away again. He straightened his tie. "The floor is open if anyone has anything to add."

Tink stood up on her chair rather than raise her hand. The sound guy brought her the microphone. "How many Children do you propose will be needed for the team?"

"Ianto?" Iden said, though he could easily have answered the question himself.

"Umm, Torchwood Cardiff currently has five members, the director, the medical officer, tech specialist, a field agent, and a support officer. As it stands right now, their jobs all overlap. The medical officer doubles as a field agent, for example. I would propose to at least double that number for the Vegas team. It would be safer."

"What about technology?" Adrian asked. "I know Torchwood has it—do we have access to that sort of thing without putting Cardiff's undercover agent at risk?"

Ianto smiled at him, it was nice that he was concerned about his safety, even with the awkward kind of competition between them.

"Yes, we have a warehouse full of tech that we '_acquired_' when Torchwood London fell," Jason said. That was news to Ianto.

The questions continued for a while. It wasn't surprising that Maxi had no more to add the rest of the meeting. A committee was decided upon to help Iden with the planning that the new endeavor would require and then Iden released the room for lunch. Ianto was happy to have survived his first meeting, but he was happier for the break that he was now going to get to take before the next meeting began.


	32. Chapter 32

AN: My Beta is amazing! Yes she is!(That was a cheer, you know like they do a football games) Inusagi, Thank you so very very much! Anyway, here is ch. 32, I like well most of it, I am a little scared about one part. Just remember it is meant to be funny not creepy! Lol, So I won't be writing anymore till Wednesday. I think my brain is a little fried, which may be why I am rabbling now. I don't know, here's the chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood

Warning: Umm…. well one small mention of sex and masturbation.

Spoilers: none

lj-cut

Ch. 32

Ianto found himself being pulled down the hall once he reached the second floor landing. Jason was on the other end of the hand pulling him. Ianto _loved_ how the crowd of people around him just let him be kidnapped.

"God, you did amazing! I am so fucking proud of you," Jason said as soon as he had closed the bedroom door behind him.

"Umm, thanks," Ianto muttered. He didn't really think he had done anything to impressive during the meeting, but he got a warm feeling nonetheless from his guardian's obvious pride.

Jason went and flopped down on to his bed. Ianto opted to lean against a dresser. "God, that Maxi is a bastard, isn't he?"

"Yep. What do you reckon Iden said to him?"

"Hell if I know. Whatever it was, it seemed to scare the piss out of him. Does it make you _excited_ to know that one day you will be able to scare someone with just a few whispered words?"

"Oh, I can already do that," Ianto said mischievously, trying to fight the slight grin that was on his face.

"Yeah? Why don't you come over here and prove it?" Jason challenged with a raised eyebrow.

"No way, Jace. First it's all '_Ianto, whisper in my ear_' then it'll escalate to '_Ianto, ride my cock._' I know you," Ianto teased.

"You called me Jace," Jason said his face suddenly serious.

The bedroom door opened, saving Ianto from having to reply. Adrian came in holding three sack lunches and three bottles of water. Ianto caught the relieved look on the man's face when he saw that Ianto was standing by the dresser and not by Jason.

"Thanks," Ianto said when Adrian handed him a brown bag and a water. Adrian nodded then went and sat next to Jason on the bed.

"Did you notice Mia was missing?" Jason said to Adrian.

"Yes," Adrian said taking a bite of his sandwich.

"Well?"

"What?" Adrian said, narrowing his eyes in confusion.

"What do you mean, _what_? Where the fuck is she?" Jason snapped.

"Gina said she went out last night and didn't come back," Adrian said calmly, as if Jason hadn't just snapped at him for something well beyond his control.

"Well, she needs to be found before Iden finds out she's missing…" Jason looked up at Ianto, "_Fuck._ The bastard already knows. Would you remind me he's in the goddamn room next time?"

"I would like to go on record and say that it's not my fault Iden knows," Adrian said.

"He's got a point," Ianto chuckled. Jason just scowled.

"I'll find her, sir. Most likely she met someone last night and she just hasn't come back yet."

TW-TW-TW

The next meeting involved the need for a new American ambassador. The last one was from the Massachusetts Rift, but Maxi wanted to put a few of his members in to the race. Because this didn't involve Torchwood, Ianto was able to sit next to Tink and Aria on the front row as five rift children were reviewed and questioned by Adrian and Jason.

Ianto noticed that Aria was taking notes the whole time. She caught him looking and smirked. "I'm not just your future wife, but also your future secretary."

After the possible ambassadors had all been questioned, they started to discuss boring stuff. Money, rules, regulations.

When that was finally over and Ianto was struggling to keep his eyes opened, most of the audience was asked to leave. Now it was time to discuss the not-so-boring stuff—the law breakers.

Ianto was happy he was allowed to stay. It was amazing the kind of trouble Rift Children got up to in Sin City.

One girl in her second life had gotten drunk and jumped off the top of a casino. It was a fall that would have killed a normal human, but her wounds healed quickly and she walked away from it. Of course, not before nearly a dozen bystanders had seen her and taken pictures. She had been transferred to Germany.

There were a few who had gotten slaps on the wrists for stupid things like auditioning for shows and getting noticed in public. Rift Children were not permitted to be famous, for obvious reasons, and as far as Ianto could tell, Maxi liked his people to behave with dignity.

There had been three ordered relocations. The first was a man who had sent a letter to the Mayor about Rift Children. Thankfully, the mayor didn't receive it. Another was a woman who had tried to reunite with her great-grandson, who was 74. The third Maxi said was for "personal reasons" and he refused to discuss it with anyone apart from Iden.

After that the meetings were concluded for the day and the opening celebration began.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto Jones wasn't one to give in to the temptation of alcohol often, but tonight it seemed he was going to. He blamed Mia. She found him as soon as he stepped out of the mansion to join the festivities.

"Hey kid, your older self just chewed me out," Mia pouted wrapping an arm around Ianto's elbow. "So I was thinking, maybe if I corrupted you a bit he'd chill the fuck out."

"You were missing from the meetings today," Ianto chastised the American leader.

"Well that's just 'cause I can't stand to listen to '_Max the snood'_ bitch about how hard he works and how under-appreciated he is._ Blah blah blah_! Heard it all before! Anyway, let's start with some tequila, shall we?"

Ianto found himself pulled into a tent that had a temporary bar set up. "I want ten shots of tequila, straight and don't give me no cheap shit! I want Patron, understand, darling? And don't think I won't be able to tell the difference," Mia demanded of the bartender. The boy nodded and came back a few minutes later with a tray of shots, a bowl, wedges of lime, and a large salt shaker. "Thanks, baby. They got you working for tips?" Mia asked taking the tray and handing it to Ianto.

"Yes, Ma'am," The bartender said.

Mia pulled a hundred quid out of her bra and handed to the now wide-eyed boy. "There ya go, darling."

Ianto wondered if the boy was shocked because she had given him such a big tip or because she had pulled it from her cleavage. He didn't have long to ponder about it though, because Mia began to pull him toward a small counter high table in the tent.

Ianto set the tray on top on the table and looked up at Mia. "Alright, taking these shots is simple, really. First you lick your hand right here," she licked the area between her thumb and fore finger. "Then you shake some salt on it," She demonstrated. "Then lick the salt, take the shot, and suck the lime." She took the first shot then looked up and saw Jason heading towards the table.

"Well, if it isn't Mr. Original Sin himself," She grinned, "I am teaching baby boy here how to party."

"I am afraid I beat you to that, Mia," Jason said.

Mia looked at Ianto, "What are you waitin' for, dear? Take the shot! Or do you wanna watch a woman to drink you under this table?"

An hour later had Ianto wishing he had never heard of tequila. He stumbled through the mansion in an attempt to find the loo.

"Oh, I do have a nice ass," Ianto mused when he opened the door to the loo to find Iden and Aria in the middle of sex.

Aria was propped up on the vanity with her head leaning against the mirror. Ianto was graced with his first view of her perfect, perky breasts, but in his inebriated state he was really more interested in the nakedness of his future self. He walked fully into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

"Is that a barcode tattoo?" he shouted with excitement as he walked up behind his future self and touched the black lines that were just below his left shoulder blade.

"Do you remember this or is he so pissed that you won't?" Aria asked sternly.

"I don't really remember tonight, Aria. I told you that," Iden said then backed away from the counter and turned around, "Alright, Ianto, we're going to get dressed, then we'll take you to bed, okay? I think you've had a bit too much."

Ianto wasn't listening, though. He was too busy staring at his future cock. "Look's different from this angle," he slurred, dropping to his knees.

"Ianto," Iden warned, but it was too late Ianto was already touching and exploring.

"It's just masturbation," Ianto mused then took Iden into his mouth. "Hmm, I do taste good."

Aria was laughing uncontrollably now. Iden pulled Ianto back to his feet. "Come on, little me, let's get you to bed before you do anything else I'll regret."

TW-TW-TW

Ianto wore sunglasses to the kitchen the next morning.

"Where did you go last night?" Mia asked, leaning against the counter and drinking a cup of coffee.

"Did you touch the coffee maker?" was the only thing Ianto could say.

"No, she's not that stupid," Iden said coming up behind him.

"Anyway, to answer your question, I don't remember anything past the third shot last night," Ianto said. He was happy that he had woken up fully clothed and alone though.

"Well, you sang karaoke, kissed the bartender every time he brought us a round, even though every time he told you he was straight. You gave Jason a lapdance—which, I must say, was wow. I don't even have words. Think it pissed that Adrian guy off, though. Anyway, I took pictures! Would you like to see?"

"No, thanks," Ianto grabbed a cup of coffee and tried to keep the blush off his face. He sighed when he was left alone in the room. At least he hadn't slept with Jason…or anyone else, for that matter. Adrian came in when he was on his second cup of coffee.

"I'm sorry, Adrian," Ianto said when it became apparent that the man was going to pretend he didn't exist.

"For..?" he prompted, turning around and crossing his arms.

"Mia said I gave Jason a lap dance," Ianto said, sounding ashamed.

"Yes, you did. He kept your tie and used it to tie me to his bed and fuck me, though I'm sure it wasn't me he was thinking of," Adrian said with fire in his tone.

Ianto hadn't expected that from the usually soft-spoken man. "I said I was sorry."

"Do you want him?"

"No," Ianto said quickly.

"Could've fooled me," Adrian said then left the room.

"I don't!" Ianto shouted after him.

TW-TW-TW

That day was dedicated to the Berlin Rift. Ianto found that the leader worshiped the ground Iden walked on. Thankfully, today was a day that Ianto wasn't needed at the main table, but unfortunately, it was also a day that Jason and Adrian weren't either, so he found himself sitting next to both men the whole day.

"Alright, so what's up with you two?" Jason demanded. They were all having lunch in Jason's room again. "I'm getting the silent treatment from both of you," Silence. "What did I do?"

"You didn't do anything," Adrian said calmly.

"Great! Now, who did?"

"Nobody we can blame, some people are just whores by nature." Adrian's voice was still calm.

Ianto wasn't going to sit there and be called a whore, though. "Excuse you! I have only had four sexual partners and with three of them, it was a serious relationship," he snapped.

"It's not the number that counts," Adrian whispered.

"Oh, you're mad at _each other_. I understand now." Jason acted if all was well again.

Ianto looked at Jason, "Jace, I'm in love with Jack. I don't want a relationship with you so, have one with your boy-toy so he'll stop being such a baby."

"I am not a boy-toy! I am older than both of you put together!" Adrian shouted.

"You called me Jace again."

Adrian and Ianto both growled in frustration. Adrian headed to the bathroom and Ianto went to the hall. Ianto tried to calm his breathing as he walked the short distance to his old room. He firmly closed the door behind him and collapsed on his bed. He was surprised to find tears falling from his eyes. He tried to brush them away when his door opened, but didn't see the point when he realized it was Iden.

Iden closed the door then sat down on the bed. "Adrian is the best thing for him, Ianto," Iden said.

"I know. It just feels like it's finally over, you know. I've been avoiding this closure. It's the reason I left him without saying goodbye. I loved him so much and he hurt me, but it is _so hard_ to let go." Ianto was openly sobbing now. "He loves Adrian, whether he admits it or not, and as petty as it is, I don't want him to love anyone but me."

Iden pulled him into a hug. "This is the one time someone is going to say 'I know how you feel' and actually mean it." Ianto chuckled through his tears. "It's not the end for you, though, alright? It may be for him, and me now, but not you." Ianto looked up to see tears on Iden's cheeks. "Skip the rest of today, okay? Go hang out with Aria and Ruby."

Ianto nodded. "That sounds good."

"I wish I could skip and just be with Aria the rest of the day, but I can't." Iden got up and headed to the door. "You can't change things, as much as you will want to, you just _can't_."

"I know."

TW-TW-TW

Ianto found Aria and Ruby in Ruby's bedroom. They were currently taking care of a pretend baby.

"He's making you take the day off too, I see," Aria said from her seated position on the rug. Ruby threw the baby doll in the air. Aria caught it. "Don't throw the baby, hold the baby," Aria demonstrated to the 11 month old.

Ruby looked at her mother as if she was insane. Ianto sat down on the floor and picked Ruby up into his arms, "Like this," he began to rock her. She started to laugh and scream 'da-da'.

"She's the only one who doesn't view you and Iden as two separate people."

"You know, I recently had a similar conversation with Jason. Am I about to die?"

Aria laughed. "No, Iden keeps us all on a need-to-know basis, which basically means he knows everything and gets a kick out of watching our reactions when we find out."

"I see," Ianto put Ruby down who grabbed the doll and started to rock it like Ianto had rocked her.

"I think something's about to happen, though. Not to you," Aria was watching her daughter intently. "He hasn't gone anywhere since the day Sarah started training with Jason, and he's hardly left my side. I think I'm about to be relocated." There were tears in her eyes now.

"I bet that's not it, he probably just remembered that talk we had that night and he's trying to show you how much he cares."

"I can see the sadness in his eyes, Ianto. I'm not stupid." Ruby came back to the carpet now holding a stuffed cat.

"Kitty," The baby squealed then started to roughly pat its head.

"Be gentle with the kitty, Ruby. What will it do if you're not nice to it?" Aria said wiping the tears from her face.

"S'catch chu," Rudy said hanging her little head.


	33. Chapter 33

AN: Chapter 33. Thank you my wonderful Beta Inusagi, as always. She is brilliant. I really hope you all love this Chapter. I can't wait for all of your reactions.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood. :(

Rating: R

Warnings: A little smut. Curse words.

Spoilers: None.

Jason cornered Ianto in the laundry room at the end of the day. The Welshman had been in the room to get a new towel.

"I followed Adrian and not you," Jason said bluntly.

"Okay," Ianto said, as though it didn't matter to him.

"Does that upset you?"

"Why should it?"

"I don't care if your feelings are justified, Jones. I just want to know what they are." Jason's eyes were staring straight at Ianto's. Ianto was trying to avoid them.

"Then yes, it did, but it's for selfish reasons." Ianto was looking down at his feet now.

Jason put a finger under his charge's chin and gently raised his head. "You want your Jack and your Jason too, I presume."

"Yeah," Ianto pouted.

"You'll always have me and I will always love you," Jason said with sincerity.

"I know," Ianto whispered, tears stinging his eyes.

"I realized today that I have real feelings for Adrian, though," Jason took a step closer to Ianto and wiped a tear from his cheek. "Just like you have for Jack."

"I love Jack," Ianto confirmed.

"Do you love me?"

"I love him more," Ianto felt his heart break in two when he saw the pain his words caused his guardian.

"I am very aware of that," Jason said schooling his features and taking a small step back. "Anyway, I have promised Adrian discretion."

Ianto raised his eyebrow. "What does that mean exactly?"

"That I won't let people give me lap dances or fuck me when he's present."

"Oh, that's romantic," Ianto sneered.

"Hey, don't mock my relationship," Jason teased.

Ianto raised his hands in mock surrender. "So sorry."

"I am allowed to do those things when he isn't present though," Jason said taking a step closer.

"I promised Jack I wouldn't have sex with anyone but him."

"So just the lap dance, then?"

"Only under the influence of tequila, I'm afraid." Ianto grabbed a towel and went to head to out of the room. Jason grabbed his arm gently.

"Goodbye kiss?"

Ianto couldn't help the tears that came. They both knew that their intimate relationship was now officially coming to an end. There would be no more stolen kisses, or lap dances, no more flirty jokes, and absolutely no more sex. When they left this moment, they would become strictly friends.

Ianto could only nod. He dropped the towel and gave everything he could to the kiss that finally shut the door on his first love. Ianto didn't want to let go when Jason, surprisingly, was the first one to break the kiss, but he did.

It was all Ianto could do to not bawl like a baby as he made his way to his old room. It was by some miracle that he was able to close the door before he fell to his knees and cried, letting it all out as flashes of happy times with Jason went through his mind.

TW-TW-TW

August 19 2000

Ianto decided that seventeen was too old to have never been kissed. It was okay at sixteen but now he was seventeen and it was ridiculous. But he knew the real reason he was obsessing about being kissed was because he now had a person he desperately wanted to kiss.

"So, do you want to do anything special for your birthday?" Jason asked, pulling Ianto from his thoughts.

"Umm… I don't know," Ianto lied. He did know. He wanted to discover what his guardian's lips tasted like. He caught himself staring at those lips often, paying close attention to the way they moved when Jason was speaking or the way they glistened after Jason would lick them.

"We could go into town and eat at a posh restaurant."

Ianto tore his eyes away from the lips. "Let's rent a horror film." Ianto had read in one of his sister's girly magazines that if you wanted a guy to kiss you, you watched a horror film with him and when you got scared he would feel the need to protect you and then things were supposed to magically escalate from there. Ianto didn't usually take advice from those kinds of magazines, but he was feeling a little desperate.

Ianto sat on the couch next to Jason after he put in the film. He sat close enough not to be obvious but not too far away that it would seem like he didn't want to be touched. He'd come up with a plan on his way to get the movie. He was going to cling to Jason at the first scary part and not let go. And if Jason didn't kiss him, Ianto was going to take a leap of faith and do it himself.

When the first murder occurred, Ianto forgot about his plan and just jumped, only remembering when the music went back to being non-threatening. He decided to improvise. He snaked an arm around Jason's bicep and leaned his head on the man's shoulder.

"The scary part's over, Jones," Jason whispered, his breath skimming across the top of Ianto's head.

"I'm preparing for the next one," Ianto whispered back. Jason pulled his arm away from Ianto's grip and put his arm around Ianto's shoulders, pulling him close. Ianto turned his head and found that he was level with the lips he wanted to taste so badly.

"I'll protect you," Jason said, but his attention turned back on the movie. Ianto watched Jason's mouth, paying special attention to the corner. Jason always began to wet his lips from that corner. His tongue would dart out and slowly move across the bottom lip, then over the top lip before retreating back into Jason's mouth.

Ianto bent slightly forward and gently pressed his lips against that corner. Jason stiffened and turned his head. "I'm sorry," Ianto said, biting his lip awkwardly.

Jason smiled. "Are you trying to seduce me?"

"No, I just wanted to... I'm sorry," Ianto tried to pull away, but Jason wasn't having any of that.

"What did you want?"

"To kiss you," Ianto looked down, trying to avoid the gaze of Jason's piercing green eyes.

"Well, you just had to ask," Jason murmured, raising Ianto's chin with his finger. Ianto's breath caught when Jason softly pressed a gentle kiss to his lips.

The kiss quickly became more demanding and Ianto felt a hand creep under his shirt. Jason broke the kiss and then pulled Ianto's shirt all the way off. "You have to tell me if you want to stop, okay?"

Ianto nodded.

Jason kissed down Ianto's neck and then sucked a particularly sensitive spot, as if he knew just how drive the Welshman crazy. He gently pushed Ianto down onto the couch and let and a hand travel down his chest. He stopped momentarily to draw a little design, like he was tracing an invisible scar, then bent down and captured Ianto's lips again demanding entrance right away. His hand continued to travel south until he came into contact with the waist band of Ianto's track bottoms.

Ianto was shivering in expectation. He hadn't really thought of what would happen after the kiss but he was enjoying where this was going. He squirmed when Jason's hand found it way inside his pants.

"Are you okay?" Jason asked, breaking the kiss. Ianto again could only nod before Jason attacked his mouth again. He let out a moan when the older man's hand found what he'd been searching for and began to expertly stroke him. It only took about five good strokes and Ianto came.

"Oh god, I'm sorry," Ianto said embarrassed both by the fact that he had cum so fast and that he had done it with his pants still on.

"Don't worry, Jones. That was just the first round."

TW-TW-TW

December 2007

Ianto wasn't sure how long he sat on the floor crying but "Crazy Frog" pulled him out of his gloom. He made a mental note to change his ring tone as he pulled his phone from his pocket to answer the call.

"Ianto Jones."

"Hey, miss me yet?" Ianto was amazed at how much better hearing Jack's voice made him feel.

"So much," Ianto laughed.

"How about Tosh? She wants to know if you miss her."

"Not a bit," Ianto teased. "So, I assume since Tosh is still there, you lot are having a long night?"

"Yeah, nothing too life-threatening though, just setting up this new rift predictor program she came up with."

"Oh, so no phone sex then?" Ianto asked, aiming for an air of nonchalance.

"Tosh, you mind if Ianto and I have phone sex?" Jack called. Ianto heard Tosh's voice in the background, but couldn't make out the words. "Oh yeah, we better not."

"What did she say?" Ianto questioned.

"She threatened your favorite part of me."

"You said it grows back," Ianto teased.

"It would still hurt!" Jack said with mock frustration.

"Alright," Ianto laughed. "Hey, can you make me a promise?"

"Sure, well depending on what it is."

"When you come to get me on Tuesday, park in the same place we parked when you dropped me off, get in the back, take off your clothes, and wait for me to come to you."

"Will you then come in me?" Jack asked, a bit of humor in his voice.

"Nope, other way around."

"Oh, that is a promise I can definitely make."

TW-TW-TW

The next morning, Ianto put on Jack's favorite suit and placed the stopwatch he had been keeping in his suit case into his front pocket. He wanted to be surrounded with constant reminders of Jack. He hesitated as he went to walk out of his room. Would this be cruel to Iden? A knock on the door pulled him from his confusing inner conflict.

"So, I am not going to do it," Sarah said when Ianto opened the door.

"I see," Ianto said, barely resisting the urge to roll his eyes at his nervous charge.

"Really, so I don't have to?"

"No, we can tell them you're sick," Ianto deadpanned.

"But I can't get sick," Sarah said. Sometimes she was a little slow on the uptake.

Ianto pulled her into the room. "Listen, you are going to do this. You're going to go in that room today and answer every single question with your head held high. You are a strong woman and I know you will make me proud."

"There's a rumor going around that you and Jason are back together." Sarah had a habit of changing subjects without warning, particularly when she was nervous.

"Can we finish one conversation before you jump to a new one?"

"Sorry. I thought your pep talk was over," she said, rolling her eyes.

"It wasn't a pep talk. It was an order."

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes again and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You know, Jason slapped me the first time I rolled my eyes at him."

"Yes, I know, I am so _blessed_ to have you," she said, dropping to her knees in fake worship.

Ianto laughed. "You're something else, you know that?"

"I know," she said standing up. "So…. You and Jason?"

"Are not getting back together."

"Good," She sounded a bit too chipper.

"That doesn't mean you can go after him," Ianto warned.

"I don't want to!" Sarah yelled. "I'm just happy because I like you and that Jack bloke together. He's nice. Besides, I'm already seeing someone."

"Since when?"

"Boxing day."

"Who?"

Sarah looked down at her naked wrist. "Oh, wow, look at the time? We need to get to that meeting."

Ianto looked at his own wrist, which actually had a watch, and realized she was right. "Okay, but this conversation isn't over."

TW-TW-TW

Today's meetings were invitation-only, which meant that the room was mostly empty. All the rift leaders and their second-in-commands where present, along with Tink. They all sat in a circle of chairs in the center of the room. Iden was there with Aria. They were standing near the far wall talking to the security detail. Ianto and Sarah were the last to arrive, which earned Ianto a scowl from Jason.

Ianto sat in a chair next to Adrian, simply because he was ahead of Sarah and he didn't want to seem petty by skipping the chair next to Adrian. Sarah sat next to him and started to wring her hands. He grabbed one of them and smiled reassuringly at her.

Ianto looked up when he heard Iden and Aria having what seemed to be a heated conversation. They were doing well at keeping their voices hushed so Ianto didn't know what the disagreement was about.  
"Look, you're witnessing a future domestic," Sarah whispered. Ianto gave her a warning glare.

Aria huffed then walked over to the circle of chairs and sat next to Sarah. Jason leaned over to look at her. "Would you act your age?" he chastised.

"Of course, because I am obviously the one to blame," She spat. Iden came and sat calmly beside her.

"Is your family feud over, then?" Maxi's voice was loud enough for everyone to hear.

Iden looked across at him as if daring him to continue. "Alright. This is an informal meeting really, simply because I don't see the point in it." Iden sighed. "We are here to discuss the Reveal Rebellion, which occurred in Cardiff. It resulted in the relocation of 31 Rift Children. Jason, can you tell us how you found out about it?"

"I was sleeping with one of the members and was asked to join," Jason said. _Of course_, Ianto thought.

"What was the member's name?" Gina asked.

"Humberto Polo," Jason answered.

"No, I don't believe it!" yelled Xander, the Peruvian leader. "He was faithful to me!"

"Well he yelled my name, so…" Jason said awkwardly.

"_Jason_," Iden warned.

"Anyway, I went to one of the meetings. I was able to identify 20 members at the first meeting and with the help of Iden, Adrian, Aria, and Ianto, we had those all relocated within the month. The last 11 members were all people I identified when I questioned the members I was in charge of disposing of. I took care of them myself."

"And my Noah was at this meeting," Gina said she had silent tears running down her cheeks.

"Yes," Jason confirmed.

"As well as this whore," Gina said angrily gesturing towards Sarah.

"Yes," Jason said simply. Ianto and Sarah both looked down at him.

"Oh, right, sorry..." Jason said, "Sarah is a nice young lady, not a whore."

"How come she wasn't relocated?" Liam asked.

"She was," Ianto said, "She just happened to reappear here."

"It's convenient that you had the boy take out Noah and Humberto," Xander stated.

"It hasn't been convenient at all," Iden said. "Listen, I understand that you are upset, but when Rift Children become ambassadors they become the responsibility of the Rift leader. The punishment in Cardiff for attempting to reveal the truth about rift children is Relocation. End of story. There was no conspiracy here."

"How did Noah go?" Gina asked looking directly at Ianto.

"I used a lethal dose of sedative. He felt nothing." Ianto said softly.

"Is this what you did with Mr. Polo as well?" Maxi asked.

Ianto looked up at Iden. Should he lie and simply say yes or should he say he lost his cool and snapped the man's neck.

Iden saved him from having to make the decision. "Each of the relocations was as painless as possible."

"Why do I not believe that?" said the Peruvian second-in-command Scarlet, looking straight at Jason.

"Are you questioning my honesty?" Iden snapped. He was obviously in an irritable mood today.

"She is merely speaking out of turn, Minister," Xander stated, looking anxious to smooth things over.

"Who relocated you, dear?" Mia asked Sarah gently.

"Ianto."

"Tell us how he did it," Maxi said.

"With the sedative," Sarah said.

"Did it hurt?" Gina asked.

"No. He wasn't mean about it. He questioned me beforehand, using an alien lie detector."

_Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, _was the word that began repeating over and over in Ianto's mind.

"And where did you get that, Ianto?" Jason said his voice showed he was angry. Ianto really wished Jason hadn't said that because he was planning on at least lying about it to the other leaders.

"Torchwood," Ianto answered looking straight at his guardian.

Words like _dangerous_, _risky behavior_, _spoiled brat_, and _idiot_, flew throughout the room. He knew they were right, taking alien technology outside of Torchwood under the nose of Jack Harkness was a stupid decision. Sarah was looking at him with an expression that clearly showed she was sorry.

"Enough!" Iden shouted.

"It is enough! He's too young to be in Torchwood, which is what I said from the beginning!" Tink said, standing in her chair.

Iden pointed a finger at her. "You sit down _now_. If you think you are old enough to yell at me like that, little lady, then you are just as stupid as I was!"

She sat quickly like a chastised child. Iden looked at Jason and raised his eyebrow. "I didn't know and you know that!"

"Just because I know doesn't give you some free ticket to get away with things. I told you that from the beginning. You need to stay on top of things, Jason, and not depend on me to tell you!" Iden said. Ianto decided this had to come in at the top five of his '_oddest moments with Iden_' list. Iden stood up. "You _all_ need to remember that," he looked around the room. "I can't change things, I can't tell you what's going to happen, I can't warn you, _you_ have to do it!" He ran his fingers threw his hair and took a deep breath. "This meeting is fucking over!" he growled then quickly left the room. Aria followed behind him.

Jason leaned over Adrian and looked at Ianto, "I will see you in my room in five minutes!" he snapped.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto went in to Jason's room ready to be dressed down, especially since Iden had just chewed Jason out in front of all the Rift Leaders. Ianto knew this was going to be some backwards sort of pay back.

"What the _fuck_ were you thinking?" Jason yelled as soon as Ianto shut the door. "What, hiding your girlfriend in his basement wasn't risky enough for you, had to go and steal his tech?"

"How else was I supposed to know if she was telling the truth?" Ianto yelled back.

Jason looked at him with a stern face. "Don't you _dare_ yell at me, Jones."

"I don't understand why you are this mad about it? You didn't do anything after Lisa." Ianto said, his voice at a normal level now.

"Because I felt guilty about Lisa!"

"What?"

"You wouldn't have even met her, if I hadn't pushed you away." Jason explained. He sighed and sat down on his bed. "Imagine what they would all say if they knew everything I allow you to get away with." He was shaking his head in what seemed like shame. Ianto wasn't sure if he was ashamed of himself or if he was ashamed of Ianto.

Jason suddenly got off the bed and pushed Ianto hard against the door. He forced his face to the side so he could whisper harshly in the Welshman's ear. "I hate when people think of me as weak. You make them think that, every time you step out of line!" Ianto closed his eyes and tried to keep his breathing normal. For some reason, he hadn't expected to be manhandled, which was insane because that had always been Jason's way.

"I could relocate you right now and be totally justified," Jason continued. Ianto felt genuinely scared, more frightened of Jason than he had been in a very long time.

"Please, don't," Ianto managed to choke out.

"Give me one good reason not to!" Jason yelled. Ianto didn't have one. He had broken so many rules he should have been relocated already. Jason released his grip and stepped away. He picked up a vase off his dresser and threw it against one of the bed posts.

Ianto stayed where he was and flinched when he heard the vase break. "You know what I would do if we were still together, if you had behaved this way when you were mine in every way." Jason said, walking slowly back towards Ianto.

Ianto knew very well he would have been tied to the bed already, naked and anticipating the sting of a paddle, or belt, or if he was lucky a hand. "But I'm not yours in that way anymore," Ianto said quickly.

"So, maybe we should do it with the clothes on," Jason whispered, hovering over Ianto again.

Ianto began to shake. Jason pulled him away from the door and began to drag him towards the bed. Ianto wasn't going to give in without a fight and he began to struggle. Jason just gripped him tighter. "Let me go," Ianto yelled and Jason did but only because they had reached the bed.

Ianto hesitated for a moment then tried to run back to the door. Jason grabbed him before he made two steps and tossed him onto the bed. Ianto tried to scramble to the other side but Jason caught his ankle. "You know I'm going to win, so you may as well stop resisting."

Ianto kicked him in the balls. He had never once done anything like that to Jason. Jason was momentarily affected but didn't let go of Ianto's ankle. Ianto whimpered when Jason got on the bed and pinned him down both hands above his hand secured tightly in one of Jason's. "That was very brave," Jason said, eyes glittering dangerously.

"I promise not to do anything else to disappoint you, Jace. Please let me go," Ianto cried.

Jason wasn't listening. He was too busy attaching one of Ianto's wrists to the opposite side of the bed using one of the handcuffs that was already there. He then rose off Ianto slightly and flipped him onto his stomach before attaching the other wrist to the bed.

Ianto accepted defeat.

Jason got off the bed. "I'm not going to do it."

Ianto didn't even hide his sigh of relief.

"What I _am_ going to do is leave you here for the rest of the day."

Ianto heard Jason walk across the room, he heard the door open, then shut, and he knew he was alone.


	34. Chapter 34

AN: Thank you again to my beta, Inusagi. She is a god send. If you read this on FanFiction, you guys should check out her stories too, they are awesome!

Disclaimers: I don't own Torchwood.

Rating:R

Warnings: mentions of rape and prostitution.

Ianto awoke to the feel of soft hands on his left wrist. He turned his head to see who they belonged to.

"Don't! He has to do it!" Ianto said franticly when Adrian undid the cuff.

"He told me to. Calm down." Adrian sighed. "As if I would try and free you unless I was ordered to," he added under his breath, going around to the other side of the bed and freeing Ianto's other wrist.

Ianto set up as soon as he was free and started to rub the muscles in his arms. He flinched when he felt a warm cloth touch his face. "Sorry. Here wipe your face," Adrian handed him the flannel. Ianto took it and began to wipe away the tear streaks on his cheeks.

"Take off your jacket and shirt."

"No, thank you," Ianto said. His voice was rough.

"It wasn't a request. I'm going to put some Deep Heat on your muscles," Adrian huffed.

"You can't give me orders," Ianto said.

"I'm trying to be nice to you! And for your information, I _can_ give you orders. I'm the second in command. Last time I checked I outranked you!" Adrian snapped.

Ianto took off his suit jacket and his shirt.

But he wasn't happy about it.

Adrian sat next to him on the bed and began to apply the ointment to Ianto's sore arms.

"I'm French," Adrian said.

Ianto just gave him a look that said '_I'd have never guessed_.'

Adrian ignored the look and continued. "I came through the Las Vegas Rift. Well, it wasn't called that then. Anyway, I came through in America about one hundred and fifty-six years ago. I was born fifty years ago, though, in Paris. That rift is closed now."

Ianto wondered if Adrian's life story was going to have a point.

"My mother was poor, and when I was 14, she sold me to a man. It was totally illegal, of course, but I didn't know that. He…loaned me out, as it were. Basically, I was his whore."

Adrian let out a sigh as if he was unsure if he should continue but did anyway. "A nice man came to me once a month. He never raped me like the others. He never even kissed me. He would just lie on my bed beside me and promise me that it would end. 'Soon you won't have to let anyone touch you again,' he would say."

"When I was nineteen, a new man came. He took me roughly, just as most of them did. When he was done, he knelt at the side of my bed and prayed for forgiveness for the sin he'd just committed. Not the sin of raping a young boy, mind you. No, for the fact that he was turned on by me. When he finished praying, he looked at me and called me his '_temptation._' Then he got back on the bed and strangled me to death.

"The nice man was there when I came through the rift. I felt like I had made it to heaven. He was true to his promise. I didn't have to let anyone touch me. And I didn't. Until I met Jason twenty-five years ago. He is the only man that I have ever willingly let inside me."

Adrian closed the cap on the ointment and sat it on the side table. "You need to get up and get dressed, grab something to eat and then be in the meeting room at 4. I suggest you get there at 3:55 to be safe," he said then left the room.

Ianto stared at the door for a moment, thinking about everything that Adrian had gone through. He wondered for a moment if Iden was the nice man. He hoped not even if it was a selfish thought. He already dreaded the fact that he was going to have to wait seventy-five years for Jack. If he was the man from Adrian's story, he realized he would be waiting a lot longer.

Ianto put his clothes back on and left the room. He moved quickly and quietly to the kitchen, completely intending to avoid everyone. He wondered if they'd all heard him yelling when he was trying to get away from Jason. The thought was mortifying.

He opened the fridge and found a brown paper sack with the words _To Ianto, love Aria_ written on it in dainty handwriting. He smiled at her thoughtfulness. It was a ham and cheese sandwich with light mayo, his favorite. He grabbed a fizzy drink out of the fridge as well, simply because he needed the sugar.

Because he was angry with Jason, he jumped up on the counter to eat his food. He could hear Jason's voice in his mind from years before. _'The only reason you should be on that counter is if I'm fucking you, Jones.' _ Ianto smiled at his small moment of rebellion.

"Get off the counter," Iden said, coming in to the kitchen. Ianto sighed and hopped down. It was a short-lived rebellion.

"Jason's a bastard," Ianto stated as he watched his twin open the fridge and peer in. He knew there was a brown sack in there with Iden's name on it to.

"You're just pissed at him. You'll get over it," Iden said, placing the brown sack on the counter then peering under the sink.

"Are you the 'nice man' from Adrian's story?" Ianto asked. Iden grabbed a disinfectant wipe and wiped down the counter where Ianto had been sitting.

"Look, I was you a long time ago, so while I vaguely remember parts of this conversation, it's a bit foggy. Be more specific with your questions, yeah?" Iden said. He was still crabby it seemed.

"Adrian told me his life story. He said a man would come and see him once a month. Was that you?" Ianto said, finding it odd that he was getting annoyed with his older self.

"Yes," Iden said simply, then he picked up his sack lunch along with a bottle of water and left the kitchen.

Ianto pulled the stopwatch from his pocket and stared at it. He could hardly get through this week being away from Jack and he got to at least talk to the man on the phone. How was he going to handle waiting over one hundred years?

TW-TW-TW

Ianto walked into the meeting room and avoided everyone's gaze. It was time to discuss the Cardiff Rift. Ianto wasn't sure where to sit again and once more Iden pointed to the seat at the main table next to Adrian.

Ianto was a model Rift Child for the next hour, answering all questions that were asked of him with respect and only speaking when spoken to. When the meeting was over, he waited patiently for the rest of the people in the room to file out and then made his way to his room.

The first thing he did when he got there was to pull all the pictures of him and Jason off the bookshelves. He placed them in the bottom of the wardrobe. If Jason wanted to put them back up after this week was over he could, but Ianto was tired of looking at them. His door opened just as he put away a picture of Jason and him lounging on the steps of the indoor pool. One couldn't tell by looking at the picture but the two were naked and had just finished a round of sex.

Ianto turned to see Aria holding Ruby. "Hey, sorry to interrupt," she said eyeing the now-empty bookcases. "But I was wondering if you would keep Ruby tonight for me. Iden is really crabby. He needs some, umm... attention."

"Of course," Ianto said standing up and taking the baby. She immediately grabbed at his tie.

"You are such an angel!" Aria said happily, "Okay, she has some food in the fridge and I usually try to make sure she's in bed by eight."

"Well, bedtimes aren't for princesses, are they, Ruby?" Ianto asked the baby.

Aria pointed her finger at Ianto. "Bed at eight."

"Aww, mummy's no fun, is she?" Ianto pouted to Ruby, who then put his tie in her mouth. Ianto looked up to meet the serious gaze of his future wife. "Okay, I got it. Run along," he said waving her out of the room.

Ianto placed Ruby on the floor as soon as Aria closed the door. The baby walked to the wardrobe and pulled out one of the picture frames. "Ja," she said pointing to Jason. "Da-da," she said pointing to Ianto.

"That's right, Ja and da-da," Ianto whispered, kissing her on the head. He pulled her away from the wardrobe then closed it. "Alright, hang out here for a second while da-da changes clothes okay." She didn't acknowledge him she was instead crawling under the bed. There was nothing under it that could harm her so he went quickly into the bathroom and changed into track bottoms and a t-shirt.

Ruby was back at the wardrobe when Ianto came back into the room. She'd somehow managed to open it and had pulled out several of the frames. "Ja!" she said pointing to Jason again when Ianto sat by her.

"Yes, that's Jason. Daddy isn't happy with him right now, so let's change the subject," he said taking the photos and putting them back in the wardrobe. Ruby got up off the floor and walked away.

Ianto closed the door to the wardrobe again and turned to see Ruby by the door. She was holding one of the pictures, the little sneak. She banged her hand on the door. "Ja!" She yelled calling for Jason.

Ianto picked her up and attempted to take the frame. "No –no, _mine_!" she cried.

"Alright, it's yours, but let's take the picture out of the dangerous frame first." Ianto tried to reason. He sat her on the bed and then with some struggle took the frame. She screamed bloody murder until he gave her the picture, now no longer incased in glass.

Ruby stopped screaming and put the picture flat on the bed in front of her. "Ja," she said pointing to Jason again. "Da-da," she pointed to Ianto.

"Yes, that's been established."

Ruby tried to slide off the bed and with a bit of help from Ianto she did. She ran to the door again.

"Ja!" she yelled, banging on the door.

"Something tells me you want to show the picture to Jason," Ianto said. He walked over to Ruby and picked her up again. He opened the door and stepped out. "Let's see if we can find him," Ianto whispered to her. He didn't want to find him, but how could he refuse his princess?

Ianto closed his eyes and tried to find the particular rush that came from Jason. It was harder to do then he expected, mostly because there where so many other Rift Children in the house but also because he was out of practice. Finally, Ianto felt it and guessed that Jason was in the living area.

Once Ianto made it to the bottom of the stairs Ruby started squirming to get him to put her down. She began to walk down the hallway calling for Jason. She would stop calling when she would come upon a person, though, and show them the picture and explain who was in it, then continue on her little way again repeating her call of "Ja!"

Jason was the only one in the living room. He was sitting on the couch and drinking what looked like scotch. He seemed to be in his own world. Ruby went to the couch and attempted to crawl up onto it. Jason looked down. "Hey, baby girl. Who's watching you?" he asked, placing his scotch on the side table and helping her onto the couch.

Ianto leaned against the entryway but didn't say anything. Ruby put the picture flat between her legs. "Whatcha got?" Jason asked her.

Ruby pointed to the picture. "Ja" she moved her finger "Da-da."

"Would you look at that?" Jason exclaimed. "Such a smart little girl!" He gently kissed her hair and looked up at Ianto.

Ruby put the picture to the side. "Dan." she squealed crawling into Jason's lap.

"Oh, Ruby, Uncle Jason doesn't feel much like dancing," he said pulling her into a hug.

"Dan!" she repeated, a clear command in her small voice.

"Alright," Jason said, standing up with her in his arms. "Don't tell Adrian. He doesn't know I can dance." He spun her around holding her close in his arms. She squealed happily.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto gently placed his sleeping princess in her cot. He had rocked her to sleep and it had been wonderful. He didn't think he could ever love someone like he loved her. He wondered if she was his only child, as he watched her dreaming.

"Thought I said eight?" Aria whispered from the doorway. Ianto turned to see her wearing a white robe pulled tightly closed.

"We were in her room at eight, she just kept distracting me from actually getting her to go to sleep," Ianto smiled.

"She seems to have that effect on all the men, got you all wrapped around her finger," Aria said coming to stand beside Ianto and peer into her daughters cot. "Her first boyfriend is going to be in for a shock."

"I was thinking she might make a good nun," Ianto teased.

Aria chuckled and then burst into tears. Ianto didn't know what to do. "I'm sorry, I just…" she let out a sob. "You'll take care of her, won't you? Keep her safe, make sure she's happy."

"Of course, but you aren't going anywhere, so you get to help. You're only nineteen. You have years left in this life."

Aria shook her head, "I wish that was true."

"Did Iden say it wasn't?"

"Could you honestly tell me, that if you knew I was going to die and you knew you had to let it happen, that you'd be able to tell me?"

"No," Ianto said, blinking back a few of his own tears and looking at his daughter again. "No, I couldn't."

TW-TW-TW

Ianto woke up on the morning of the thirty-first and was happy that it was the last day of the convention. Today's meetings would cover the Aussie Rift and he wouldn't be required to be at the table. He could even skip them all together if he wanted. He looked up and the ceiling and sighed. He could stay in bed or he could go care for Ruby instead of letting some random assistant do it.

Yes, that's what he was going to do, spend the day with Ruby. He pulled on some casual clothes and went to the kitchen.

"I don't think she likes mushed bananas." Ianto stated when he walked into the kitchen to find Aria wiping baby food off her shirt.

"Oh she loves them. She just doesn't realize they're food," Aria laughed.

"I was thinking I'd keep her today, instead of going to the meetings," Ianto said, kneeling by Ruby's high chair. "Did you throw your food again, young lady?" he asked the baby, who giggled.

"Well, I'm not going to the meeting either, so we could all spend it together," Aria said.

Ianto looked over at the sink where Aria was standing. "Alright."

After breakfast the three went to the pool, they swam for a good hour until Ruby fell asleep in Ianto's arms. Aria took her to bed for a nap and she and Ianto lay down on the floor in the baby's room discussing the unimportant things in life until they, too, fell asleep.

When they woke from their naps, they had lunch then went outside were Ruby ran around in the tents that had been set up for the New Year's Eve party that night. Ianto enjoyed chasing her and the little laugh she would make when he caught her. Soon she was ready for another nap.

Aria fed Ruby her dinner after her second nap.

"Can you watch her while I go get dressed for the party?" Aria asked when she took Ruby out of her high chair.

"It would be my pleasure." Ianto smiled. Aria kissed her daughter, and told her to be a good girl, then handed her to Ianto. Aria stood up on her tip toes and gave Ianto a quick kiss on the lips.

"You keep her safe! Got it?" Aria said. Ianto could see tears forming in her eyes again.

"I promise," Ianto whispered and then watched his future wife walk out of the room.

At fifteen till eight a woman came into the living room where Ianto was playing with the baby and said she was supposed to be 'in charge of the child tonight'. Ianto had never seen the woman anywhere near his child before. And he was suspicious of the way she said 'the child.' The other girls that watched Ruby all had pet names for her.

"Well, I'm just going to take her to bed," Ianto said grabbing Ruby as the woman bent down to do the same.

"Oh, wouldn't you rather go get ready for the party? It's no trouble, really." The woman reached for Ruby, who hid her face in the crook of Ianto's neck.

"No, I got it," Ianto said firmly, taking a step towards the exit.

"Her Mother asked me personally to come relief you of your duty," She said with a fake smile that would have put Gwen Cooper to shame.

"Yes, well as her Father, I think I can handle it," Ianto said before turning and quickly going to Ruby's room.

Gunshots sounded as soon as Ruby closed her eyes.

AN: Oh how I love cliff hangers. Review Please!


	35. Chapter 35

AN: See, I didn't make you wait long. Thank you Inusagi, my wonderful Beta. You are greatly appreciated.

Disclaimers: I don't own Torchwood

Rating: R

Warning: Violence.

Ianto jumped out of the chair he was rocking Ruby in. He pulled her close to his chest and wasted no time leaving her bedroom behind. He didn't know what was going on. The only thing he was concerned with at the moment was making sure Ruby was safe.

When Ianto reached the bottom of the stairs someone grabbed his arm. He momentarily tried to pull away until he realized it was Jason. The man held his finger to his lips in a hush motion. Adrian was standing behind Jason with his gun pulled. Another round of gunfire could be heard outside.

"What's going on?" Ianto whispered as the men slowly made their way to the kitchen.

"I tell you when I know you're safe. Until then, shut it," Jason whispered back. He peered into the kitchen to see if the coast was clear. Apparently it was, and they made their way through the kitchen into the laundry room.

Jason opened the door to the laundry room to reveal Sarah. She was in a crouching position ready to attack anybody who came her way. She straightened up as soon as she saw Ianto.

"Oh, thank god," Sarah sobbed putting her arms around her guardian. Ianto didn't have a hand to return the hug so he just bent his head down and kissed her hair. That's when he noticed a guy cowering behind her.

"Who are you?" Ianto whispered.

"Sean. I'm Sarah's boyfriend." the sandy haired kid said sounding a bit defensive. Ianto recognized him now—he was one of the hopefuls to be Cardiff's new American ambassador.

"Well, he'll have to join us in the panic room." Jason said, turning to the basement door and typing in a code. The door clicked open Ianto went in first, he wanted to get Ruby to safety as soon as possible. He went immediately to a small cell and pulled out a loose brick in the wall. Behind the brick was a keypad. He typed in a code then took a step back, a panel in the floor opened to reveal another stair case.

"Oh, fuck. You guys are hardcore," Sean exclaimed. Ianto already hated the kid.

Ianto handed Ruby over to Sarah, "Go," He said pointing down the stair case. Sarah didn't hesitate. Sean went to follow but Ianto grabbed him and Jason secured the boy's hands behind his back using handcuffs.

"What the hell!" the boy said.

"See, just because we have to take you with us doesn't mean we're about to trust you," Jason said.

"You're a fucking psychopath!" Sean sneered. Jason slammed the kids face into the nearest wall. When he pulled him back, there was blood coming out of his nose, Ianto thought it was probably broken.

"Rule 27. It's never a good idea to insult your captor," Ianto said then took the boys arm to lead him down the stairs.

"I'm going to go help," Adrian said. Ianto stopped leading the boy and looked back up the stairs.

"Okay. Come give me a kiss first," Jason said, way too calmly in Ianto's opinion.

Adrian walked up to Jason and kissed him for all he was worth. Ianto could see how good the two were together. Jason pushed Adrian down the stairs when they broke the kiss.

"Like fuck you're going to help," Jason exclaimed, walking down the stairs and closing the panel in the floor.

At the bottom of the stairs was another door. Jason punched in the security code while holding Adrian's forearm tightly to prevent him from going back up the stairs.

"What happened to his face and why is he in handcuffs?" Sarah demanded.

"We don't know him. We can't trust him. So we handcuffed him. He called Jason a psychopath. Jason broke his nose," Ianto said.

The door slid open and they filed in. The room was twenty by twenty with two three-bed-high bunk beds, a small kitchen space and a wall of computer monitors all showing a different part of the mansion and its grounds. There was also a small loo in one corner. The room was reinforced with lead, which would protect them from being sensed by other Rift Children. Ianto had laughed out loud the day Jason told him that Rift Children couldn't sense through lead, like Superman.

Ianto let go of Sean and took Ruby back from Sarah. "You take care of him," he said, pushing the smart-mouthed American towards her. She glared and led Sean to one of the bunk beds.

Ianto laid Ruby on one of the beds putting pillows all around her and then for good measure placing some on the floor. When he was satisfied she was safe, he walked over to the computer monitors and looked at the screens. It was pure chaos out there.

Everyone was running around in obvious fear. Only a few looked to have a purpose and those were the ones holding weapons and shooting anybody who got in their way. They were looking for someone, that much was clear.

"Who are they looking for?" Ianto said, turning to look at where Jason was sitting on one of the beds having an argument with Adrian.

"You," Jason answered. He stood up and walked to the monitors and looked at them all closely trying to find a certain one.

"Why me?"

"Well, if they take out you they figure it will change things. Maxi want's to rule, and Xander wants Polo back. But they won't be getting you," Jason said turning around to look reassuringly at Ianto.

"A woman I didn't know… she tried to take Ruby. Why would they want to take her if they want me?"

"Bargaining chip?" Jason mused then started to look at the screens again. "Ha! There he is!" Jason yelled suddenly, looking at the screen that showed the kitchen.

Ianto walked closer to the screen so he could get a better look. Iden was standing in the kitchen his arms tightly around Aria. "Aria's okay, that's good."

"Why aren't they coming down here?" Jason said with clear frustration. "Why are they just standing in the open?"

Ianto started to search for the camera to the hall by the kitchen and for the one in the laundry room. They were close to the kitchen. "Here's why," Ianto said solemnly, pointing to the two separate screens. In the laundry room standing in the door way facing toward the kitchen was Xander. In the hallway also facing towards the kitchen were was Maxi, Ryan, and Scarlet.

"Tell us where he is and we'll spare her," Maxi's voice rang throughout the room. Ianto and Jason turned to see Adrian by a small computer.

"What, didn't think we had audio? This isn't the stone ages," Adrian said, rolling his eyes.

"I need to go out there," Ianto said, heading towards the door.

Jason grabbed him, "Absolutely not."

"I can't just let them relocate her, Jace!" Ianto yelled, struggling to pull away.

"Well, I'm not going to them relocate _you_!"

Adrian cleared his throat. "If you two will stop yelling at each other, I have a plan." Jason and Ianto looked back at Adrian. He pointed towards Sean and Sarah. "We happen to have Maxi's favourite."

"I've hardly even seen the guy," Sarah said.

"Not _you_," Adrian said with annoyance.

"Please, I'm not… I don't even… oh, god," Sean whimpered. Jason yanked him away from the bed and forced him to his knees in the middle of the room.

"Did you know about this?" Jason asked leaning down to look in Sean's eyes.

Sean shook his head.

"Oh, you know, I _really_ hate liars," Jason said, then pinched Sean's hurt nose.

"Jason, it doesn't matter what he knows," Adrian said typing on the computer, "What matters is us telling Maxi that we have him."

"Well, ruin my fun then," Jason pouted, he patted Sean on the cheek. "Another time?"

"God, I just… there's no way to reverse the audio. One of us is going to have to go out there…" Adrian was saying then the sound of a camera made everyone look at Jason who was holding his phone. He punched a few numbers.

"Alright. I sent him a text message, with a nice picture." Jason said coolly.

"Yeah, well, something tells me he isn't going to get it," Sarah said walking to the monitors and pointing at the one in the kitchen.

Apparently while they had been discussing how to save Aria, Iden had been actually saving Aria. Well, the back-up that had ambushed the four captors had. They were now in the middle of the kitchen with their hands over their heads.

"Hmm…" Jason said, "Can I interrogate the boy now?" He asked Adrian hopefully.

"How did we not hear that happen?" Ianto asked Adrian, who seemed to be ignoring Jason's question.

"I turned the audio off whilst you two were having your shouting match," Adrian said.

"Well, something tells me Aria is going to want to see her baby," Ianto said, walking to the bunk Ruby was sleeping soundly on and picking her up.

"No, we can't leave this room yet. Iden hasn't given us the all clear," Jason said. He was watching the kitchen screen intently.

"But we can see it's all clear," Ianto said. He stood beside Jason and looked up at the monitor. Iden was holding Aria close and he appeared to be whispering in her ear. She looked up at him and nodded. They both looked towards the hallway. Iden was holding Aria's hand tight. Gina came into the screen a gun in her hand. Ianto felt his knees buckle as he watched Gina pull the trigger and the shot go straight into Aria's side.

He felt someone take Ruby from his arms and then he was running to the door. He could vaguely hear Jason telling him to stop, but he didn't care. In no time, he was up the stairs and in the kitchen. He fell to his knees beside his future self and was met with the unseeing eyes of his future wife.

TW-TW-TW

Iden and Ianto sat side by side on the couch. Jason was cleaning the blood off Ianto's hands, and Adrian was cleaning the blood off Iden's. Ianto felt empty. He kept trying to speak but words just wouldn't form. The worst part was the fact that he knew he would have to endure this moment again.

"Where is Gina?" Iden asked, breaking the silence. Ianto looked over at him. One day, he would ask that question.

"She's in the basement with the others," Adrian whispered. "We can deal with them tomorrow. You need to go to bed now."

"No. I want to kill her now!" Iden said standing up. He had apparently moved from the shocked stage to the anger stage. Ianto wondered if he would catch up soon. He didn't suspect so.

Iden walked from the room. Adrian followed after him. Ianto heard fireworks go off in the distance. It was now the year 2008. The Children of the Rift had welcomed it in with a blood bath. Ianto wasn't sure how many had been relocated. He knew that it would have been worse if the party had been in full swing during the uprising.

All the men and women working for Maxi and Xander had been taken out. The only murderers left were Maxi, Ryan, Xander, Scarlet, and Gina. Sarah's boyfriend was also locked up, but they weren't sure if he was guilty of anything yet.

Jason pulled Ianto to his feet. "Don't make me sleep alone," Ianto managed to say.

"I won't. You can sleep with me. Come on," Jason said grabbing Ianto's hand and dragging him towards the staircase. Ianto let himself be dragged.

When they reached the bedroom, Ianto heard five far-off pops, one after the other. "Did Iden just kill them?"

"I believe so," Jason whispered unbuttoning Ianto's blue jeans and pulling them down. Ianto stepped out of them. "There is blood on your shirt, so I need to take that off, too." Ianto just nodded and helped as much as he could.

Ianto was led to the bed and he crawled into it. Real tears finally came to the surface when his head hit the pillow. Jason got in bed and pulled him close.

"_Shh_… I hear there's a planet that views us as gods. When we show up there, we're immediately given everything we could ever want. I bet Aria is in a place like that now. We live forever, Ianto, you never know— you may see her again. Well, you know…after all the time that you know you're going to get with her."

"Do you think Lisa is on that planet, too?" Ianto whispered. He realized he sounded like a child that wanted to be told his pet went to heaven.

"I bet she is. Could be that a future you is there, too. Imagine it—two hot girls and you all sitting around eating grapes," Jason whispered.

"Grapes?" Ianto questioned.

"Yeah, it's what gods eat," Jason said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Jack likes grapes," Ianto said.

"Well, I _have_ heard rumors that he's a god in bed."

"They're true," Ianto said.

The door opened and Ianto sat up slightly to see who it was. Iden was silhouetted in the light coming from the hall. He came in and shut the door. Ianto watched as he undressed until he was just wearing his boxers then he got into bed on the other side of Jason.

"Tell the grape story again," Iden whispered, laying his head on Jason's shoulder, proving that no matter how old you get, sometimes you just want your guardian.


	36. Chapter 36

AN: Thank you to my beta Inusagi. I feel like I my grammar skills are improving.

So this chapter is like half smut. Just a warning.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood

Rating: R, MA

Warnings: Smut, which means M/M sex. Also, slight torture.

Capito- Italian for "Got it"

TW-TW-TW

Ianto leaned against the kitchen counter and watched his older self make coffee the next morning.

"You're going to have a fun night tonight," Iden said.

"Is it going to involve sex?" Ianto asked, staring straight ahead.

"What do you think?" Iden said with a slight smile before Sarah walked into the room carrying Ruby.

"When are you going to release Sean?" she demanded, putting the baby in her high chair before going to stand in front of Iden with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Sarah," Ianto warned.

She looked at him and narrowed her eyes, then turned back to Iden, "He didn't do anything wrong!"

Ianto put his coffee down sadly, and then grabbed Sarah by the arm pulling her from the kitchen into the hallway. She tried to pull away, and she almost succeeded because she was a lot stronger than she was when Ianto relocated her but Ianto was still a bit stronger.

He shoved her against the wall. "What the fuck is your problem?" she yelled.

"You don't ever—_ever_!—yell at the Minister," Ianto yelled angrily.

"He is holding Sean for no good reason!" Sarah yelled back.

"I don't care!"

"Of course you don't," she said with all the arrogance of a teenager.

"Sarah, I had to watch my future wife die yesterday, I don't have time for your selfishness!"

Sarah rolled her eyes and Ianto felt his last bit of control snap as he slapped her across the face.

They both stood in silence for a moment. Sarah was holding a hand to her cheek and looking at the floor. Ianto was trying to figure out what had possessed him to hit a girl.

"_Just like Jason_," Sarah whispered moments later.

Ianto felt the urge to slap her again but he resisted. "You need to go to your flat and stay there until I say you can leave. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," Sarah growled.

"Good. Go!"

Sarah retreated quickly.

"You did the right thing," Jason said. Ianto looked down the hall to see his Guardian peering at him from behind the staircase.

"Funny, it didn't feel very right," Ianto snapped.

"Of course not, but one day she could disrespect someone who doesn't care about her and she would get worse then a slap across the face," Jason said walking forward. "You have to teach her."

"Well, I am never doing _that_ again," Ianto said voice full of defiance.

"Fine, don't… use a different technique that works for you," Jason said with an _I could care less_ shrug of his shoulders.

"Anyway, we're about to have a small meeting in the dining room concerning last night," Jason said his voice turning more sensitive.

TW-TW-TW

The feeling in the dining room was depressing. Iden sat in front of a laptop at the end of the table. Jason sat next to him, then Adrian. Ianto sat across from them.

"Adrian, do you have the list of the relocated from Cardiff?" Iden asked.

Adrian shifted through a few papers in front of him then handed Iden a handwritten list of names.

"How many?" Ianto asked, his voice breaking a bit.

"Too many," said a small voice at from the entry of the dining room. Ianto turned his head to see a red faced Tink walk into the room.

Iden got up and walked straight to the ancient girl, picking her up into his arms. She clung to him and sobbed into his shoulder. "Shh…" Iden soothed, rocking her back and forth.

"Seventeen from Cardiff. Thirteen Americans. Twenty-two Peruvians. Two from London." Jason whispered to Ianto.

Iden walked to stand at the front of the table still holding Tink, whose sobs had quieted. "We have three rifts without leadership now."

"Mia?" Ianto question.

Jason shook his head and rubbed a frustrated hand over his eyes. "Gina… relocated her."

Ianto closed his eyes to force more tears back. There was a moment of silence.

Iden cleared his throat. "I trust the four of you, more than you know.

"Tink, I need you in Salem. Take Joy with you. I need you to do interviews with all the Children there. Pick out who would make them a good leader.

"Adrian, I need you to do the same thing in Peru."

"No, I want him to stay here," Jason said.

Iden sighed. "Jason, I promise he will be okay and he won't be gone long." He turned to his younger self.

"Ianto, you will need to help Jason while Adrian is away. I will be heading to Las Vegas. There's so much to do there." Iden sighed and gently put Tink on the ground.

"Can I send someone with Adrian?" Jason asked, as if Iden hadn't moved on. Iden nodded.

"What about Ruby?" Ianto asked, afraid of the answer.

"She will be coming with me. I'm sorry Ianto, I can't leave her here, I don't know how often I'll be able to come back."

"Of course. It's what I would do," Ianto said, smiling slightly at his own joke. He knew Ruby would be safe, but it sucked that he would get to see her as much as he was used to.

"Okay, so those are the long term plans, let's discuss the short term. " Iden cleared his throat. "Jason, I need you to figure out if that Sean is innocent or not. Adrian, you did a great job dealing with all the bodies. Thank you. Now head to bed."

They watched as the Frenchman nodded and shuffled sleepily from the room before Iden spoke again.

"We need to get cover stories for all those that have been relocated. Anybody have any ideas about that?"

Everyone looked towards Ianto, who had been listening but was drawing circles on the table. He was surprised to look up and see everyone's eyes on him.

"What?"

"We're pretty good with cover stories, but I know a person who is a bit better than us," Iden said casually.

"Tosh?"

TW-TW-TW

Ianto was happy to see his best friend when she arrived at the mansion.

"This is posh," Tosh said, looking around the grand foyer.

"Yeah, Jason is a bit flashy."

"I can see that," Tosh said, with a small smile. "So, what happened?"

"We had a bit of a coup," Ianto answered, his voice small. He started to lead the way to the dining area where Iden and Tink were.

"How many cover stories are we talking?"

"Fifty-four."

"That's a small coup, is it?"

Tosh stopped dead when she saw Iden. "Hello, Toshiko."

"Wow. I mean, I was expecting you to look exactly the same, but… wow…" Tosh said with pure amazement. She then noticed Tink. "And who do we have here?" she said like she was talking to a small child, which in her mind she was.

"My name is currently Tink and I am not a child," Tink said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, okay. I'm sorry. I'm still a bit new to all this," Tosh said apologetically. Ianto pulled a chair out for her and she sat down.

"Ianto, what time is your plane supposed to arrive?" Iden asked.

"4:30, sir," Ianto answered. He instantly felt weird for calling himself "sir."

Iden looked at his watch. "Okay, so you have two hours. Go help Jason."

Ianto took that to mean _"go make sure Jason doesn't kill Sean_."

"Alright. Let's get down to business," Iden said as Ianto left the room.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto inwardly groaned when he stepped into the basement and found Jason and Sean in the same room Jason used to train Ianto in.

When Ianto walked in, Sean was tied to a chair and Jason was standing by a table of shiny objects, ones that had thankfully never been used on Ianto. Actually, Ianto remembered Jason saying he had never used them at all, so he instantly knew Jason was using them as a scare tactic.

"Hey, Ianto. I was just introducing our friend here to a few of my toys," Jason said happily.

"Oh, that's nice of you," Ianto said. He walked to the table and picked up a small knife. He then turned to look at Sean.

"Please, don't leave me in here with him again. Please! He's insane!" Sean sobbed.

"There doesn't look to be a scratch on you?" Ianto said in mock confusion.

"_Yet_," Jason added.

"Tell us what you knew and when you found out, and you will be given a second chance," Ianto said simply.

"I didn't know anything!" Sean exclaimed.

Ianto was positive the kid was lying. He walked over to him knife in hand and knelt beside him. "See, you really should be begging Jason not to leave _me_ alone with you, not the other way around. I watched my wife die yesterday and I'm a little…on edge today." Ianto put the knife against Sean's cheek. "I am _very_ tempted to carve the word 'liar' into your cheek here. Wouldn't that be something to live with for eternity?"

"I'm not lying," Sean sobbed.

"You know, maybe I'll start lower," Ianto said. He used the knife to cut the boy's t-shirt down the middle, revealing that the kid had a six pack. Ianto ran the cold blade down Sean's chest. "Tell me what you knew."

"Nothing," Sean answered.

Ianto cut a small straight line on the boy's chest.

Sean let out a scream. He was being dramatic. The cut was no worse than a small cat scratch.

"Okay, okay," Sean said as he broke. It hadn't taken him long. "He was planning the takeover before we came, but he didn't discuss it directly with me. I overheard him and Ryan."

"Do you know if anybody else was involved, any one still in Vegas?" Ianto asked.

"No, I just heard that one conversation. They didn't even say anyone's name."

Ianto looked back at Jason. Jason nodded. They were in agreement that that was all Sean knew.

"Okay. Thank you very much. Someone will be back to get you later, after the Minister had decided what your fate will be." Ianto said diplomatically. He and Jason left the room.

Ianto made it as far as the stairs before he was shaking too much to go any further. He sat down. Jason sat beside him.

"Well, that was unexpected," Jason said casually.

"Yeah, I… don't know what came over me," Ianto stammered in shock.

Jason put an arm around his shoulders. "You did well. The kid's fine. All you did was scare him."

Ianto nodded. That was all he did. He didn't lose complete control, even though he wanted to. Sean had known what was going to happen and he had done nothing to stop it.

"What do you think Iden will do with him?" Ianto asked after a moment of silence.

"What would _you_ do?" Jason asked.

TW-TW-TW

It was raining when Jason dropped Ianto off at the airport. Ianto hardly noticed it. He had one thing on his mind. Jack. He needed to be with the man as quickly as possible. As soon as he saw the first passenger get off the plane he was supposed to be on, he practically ran to where Jack had promised to park.

Ianto had never been happier to see that big black SUV. He opened the boot and threw his bag in then quickly got in to the back seat where a naked Jack was waiting for him, actually, a naked and possibly sleeping Jack. Ianto was never certain if the man was actually asleep.

Ianto took his clothes off quickly then positioned himself between Jack's legs on the floor board. Jack smiled down at him.

"Hey, beautiful."

"Jack, I have a confession to make," Ianto said, trying to keep his face serious.

Jack leaned up in the seat and put his hand under the Welshman's chin. "Go on," he said with a slight twinkle to his eyes.

"I was _very_ bad while I was away," Ianto said, trying to look ashamed.

"What did you do, baby?"

"Every time I took a shower, I would think about you. I would…envision your hand around me, stroking me until I came shouting your name," Ianto growled.

"Oh, you _are_ a very bad boy," Jack said, pulling Ianto up and onto the seat next to him. "I'm going to have to teach you a lesson." He gripped his hand into Ianto's hair and pulled him into a deep, demanding kiss.

The immortal broke the kiss and began to trace a path with his tongue down Ianto's neck. "Do you want me to teach you a lesson?" he whispered against the horny Welshman's skin.

"Oh, yes," Ianto moaned.

"What kind of lesson?"

"A hard, rough, I-won't-be-able-to-sit-for-weeks lesson," Ianto pouted.

Jack pulled Ianto over his knee. "Oh, your captain can make that a reality," he said his voice laced with amusement before he slapped Ianto's ass. Ianto moaned.

Ianto watched Jack's hand search between the seats of the SUV for the lube and felt like he had won the lottery when Jack found it. Jack slapped his ass again.

"You're going to ride me like the bad boy you are." Jack growled then pressed two lubed fingers into Ianto's ass.

"Yes, sir," Ianto moaned, feeling thankful that Jack was giving him exactly what he needed.

Once Jack decided Ianto was ready, he pulled his fingers out and slapped Ianto's ass again. "Get on me now!" he demanded.

Ianto wasted no time straddling Jack and impaling himself with the man's hard cock. Jack moaned and put his hand on Ianto's hips to control the speed of the thrusts.

"I missed you so much," Jack moaned.

"I missed you, too, Jack," Ianto managed to say through his heavy breathing. "I need you to come in me Jack. Make me yours again. It's been too long."

"Are you mine?" Jack rasped, increasing the speed slightly.

"All yours," Ianto said. He could feel his orgasm building. "Oh, _fuck_," he growled into Jack's shoulder as it hit him like a brick wall.

Jack slowed the speed. "Oh, yes, baby. Oh, you feel so good, with those muscles clinching around me," Jack whispered then he removed his hands from Ianto's hips. "Make me come, baby."

Ianto took that to mean "_ride me like your life depends on it_" and began to set a ruthless pace that turned Jack into a moaning and grunting mess until he came, shouting out Ianto's name.

Ianto rested his head against Jack's chest waiting for his breathing to come back to normal. When it finally did, Ianto got off of Jack and reached for his pants.

"Did I say your lesson was over?" Jack asked, grabbing the pants out of Ianto's hand.

"No, you didn't," Ianto said, trying to hide his grin. He watched as Jack got dressed.

"Okay. I'm going to drive and you, my dirty boy, are going to sit naked in the middle here so I can see your perfection in the rearview. Once we make it to the hub, I will continue your lesson. Capito?"

"I didn't know you spoke Italian," Ianto teased as he got in the middle seat and buckled up.

Jack shrugged. "I had a boyfriend once…" he began but stopped when Ianto frowned. "Not important," the immortal said with a grin then crawled into the driver's seat.

There was something extremely exhilarating about riding naked in a car through the streets of Cardiff—like the way one would feel when they got away with doing something bad. Ianto would look into the rearview mirror and see Jack's eyes staring at him. He tried to give the man a show the first time he noticed the man's eyes on him, but Jack nearly ran off the road so Ianto was now being good.

"Would now be a good time to ask for a raise?" Ianto teased when he caught Jack staring at him again.

"Anything you want," Jack said.

"Well, I could use a new car…"

"I got you an Audi. A brand new one. Black," Jack said seriously.

"You did not?" Ianto said.

"Well, Torchwood did," Jack said, shrugging. "But I will get you seat covers if you touch yourself again."

"Funnily enough, I don't want seat covers," Ianto deadpanned.

"How about that raise. I'll give you that raise." Jack teased.

"Ianto Jones would never whore himself out for a raise, sir." Ianto said.

"What about my bad boy? He would whore himself out for a raise," Jack pushed.

"Yes, well your 'bad boy' isn't returning until we are safely at the hub."

TW-TW-TW

Ianto sighed in relief when Jack parked the SUV in the small garage. Jack got out of the car first and opened the back door. Ianto hopped out. Jack pressed him face first against the SUV. "Spread your legs. I need to check and make sure you aren't packing any dangerous weapons before I let you into my base." Jack teased. If Ianto wasn't so turned on he would have probably called Jack out for being corny.

Jack went to his knees behind Ianto. His breath was hot over the Welshman's bare skin. He gently bit Ianto's ass cheek then moved a hand between his legs, grasping the erection he found there.

"Oh, this seems dangerous," Jack moaned.

"It is," Ianto breathed out.

Jack stood up and turned Ianto around. "I can't let you take a loaded weapon into my base."

"Unload it then," Ianto growled.

"No, I wanna watch you do that."

"Well, I need some lubrication, sir."

Jack got on to his knees again and sucked Ianto's cock into his mouth. He took care to coat it liberally with his saliva and then he pulled away and stood up again. "There ya go."

Ianto gripped his erection and began to slowly stroke it. "It may be too much for me to handle alone, sir," Ianto moaned.

Jack moved closer to Ianto and put his hand around the Welshman's and began to make him stroke faster. "Oh well, I'll just have to help you, then," he growled in his lover's ear. Ianto could only moan in reply.

Jack continued to increase the pace of the strokes. Ianto was digging his fingers into the older man's shoulder with his free hand. "God, Jack… I'm sorry, I…" and then he came for the second time that day all over Jack's hand and button-up shirt.

"That's okay, baby," Jack said as he continued to milk Ianto for all he had. He then took a step back and licked his hand. "You taste so good," Jack leered.

"Alright, I want you in my office and bent over my desk and ready to be taught that lesson," Jack said as he continued to lick his hand as if he had dripped chocolate on it. He nodded toward the exit when Ianto showed no sign of moving.

Ianto smiled and went on his way.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto bent over the desk and shivered slightly as the cold leather of the office blot touched his skin. He wondered if Jack would beat his record of the number of orgasms he can give Ianto in one night. The standing record was 7. Ianto had had to call in sick the next day.

"Oh, Mr. Jones, you have been absent from class for a whole week, what do you have to say for yourself," Jack said in a professional tone as he walked into the office butt naked.

Ianto couldn't help but laugh. "Mr. Jones, it is extremely disrespectful to laugh at your sexual education teacher." Jack walked behind Ianto and ran a hand over his ass. Ianto watched out of the corner of his eye as Jack grabbed a ruler out of the pen holder. Ianto only had a moment to register that before the ruler was brought down onto his ass.

"Fuck," Ianto yelled.

Jack bent down so Ianto could see his face. "Did I do it to hard?" he asked, sounding worried.

Ianto smiled, "No, Jack, I've had way worse."

Jack frowned and put the ruler back in the pen holder. He ran a hand gently over the spot where the ruler had touched Ianto's skin, then without much warning he pushed into Ianto's entrance. Ianto moaned.

"I only want to give you pleasure, baby," Jack growled as he pounded into his Welshman.

Jack was achieving his goal because Ianto was in total bliss. He yelled out Jack's name as his third orgasm coursed through his body and then he let his body collapse onto the desk, willing his breath to return to normal.

"You're going to be the death of me Jack Harkness," Ianto mumbled into the desk.

"Oh, but it will be a good death," Jack teased, rubbing his hand up and down Ianto's back.

"I need a shower," Ianto said after a few minutes. Jack helped him to his feet and they made their way to the employee showers.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto let out a moan as the hot water beat down on his muscles. "Hey, you're only supposed to make those sounds for me," Jack teased as he poured body wash onto a puff.

"Sorry," Ianto said not sounding sorry at all. He sighed as Jack began to gently wash his body and leaned back into the other man's chest. "This is one of those moments, Jack."

"Yeah," Jack said kissing the side of Ianto's head. He then slightly stepped away from the younger man and moved to stand in front of him. He kissed his lips gently. "Every moment with you is one of those moments, Jones, Ianto Jones."


	37. Chapter 37

AN: My beta. She needs a medal. Inusagi thank you so much for helping me! (And being there to ease my insecurities)

This is the combat chapter.

For those of you who have listened to the audio book Hidden. I liked it, but it was supposed to have occurred after Out of Time, but in the book Owen seems totally fine, which he shouldn't be. So I decided not to include it even briefly.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

Spoilers: Combat

Rating:R

Warnings: Cursing. implied smut.

lj-cut

Ianto decided that the "Crazy Frog" song was the worst creation ever when it woke him from his deep sleep.

"God, why haven't you changed that yet?" Jack groaned.

Ianto just grunted in reply. He felt the bed move a bit and then sighed when the song ceased.

"Ianto's phone," Jack exclaimed. Ianto shot up and looked at Jack in horror. God, he hoped it wasn't his sister.

"Yep, he's here. He just woke up… oh, I'm Jack… Yeah… oh he's glaring at me. Yes, nice talking to you, too, Iden," Jack chatted then handed the phone to Ianto. He mouthed _he sounds hot_ before retreating to the small bathroom.

"Good morning, Iden." Ianto yawned into the phone.

"Hey. Sorry to wake you," Iden greeted.

"That's okay."

"I just wanted to let you know that I will be taking Sean with me to Vegas. It's up to you, of course, but Sarah is invited to come along," Iden explained, sounding a bit out of sorts.

"I'm sorry, Iden. I know that was probably difficult," Ianto whispered.

"I knew he was going to answer, I just… I haven't heard his voice in so long…" Iden choked out. Both versions of Ianto were silent for a moment.

"Anyway," Iden continued, breaking the silence. "It's your choice, whether or not Sarah goes. Just let me know by tomorrow night so I can book the tickets."

"You've already booked them, haven't you?" Ianto quipped, smiling slightly.

"Yes, but you don't know how many I booked."

TW-TW-TW

Ianto felt like everyone was leaving him as he watched his charge pack her bags to head to Las Vegas. Iden would be taking over her training.

"Sarah, did I tell you that I was sorry?" Ianto asked. Sarah turned and smiled at him.

"Yes, about fifty times. And I've said I was sorry the same number of times."

Ianto nodded and looked down at his feet.

"You know I'm not leaving because I'm angry with you or anything."

"Then why _are_ you going?" Ianto questioned.

"I love him," Sarah blurted.

"You hardly know him," Ianto pouted. "Plus, he's dumb and a coward. Those are not impressive traits."

"He's neither of those things."

"Well, that proves your love theory. They always say love is blind."

Sarah laughed. "You know you're not my father, right?"

"Well, maybe I _should_ give Mr. Higgins a call. See what he thinks of this dead beat."

"You could do that, but he isn't my father either." She smiled.

"Yes, he is. I checked your file," Ianto challenged.

"Well, then you should know that he adopted me when I was thirteen, to please my mother," Sarah retorted.

"Oh, I didn't know," Ianto said, "What happened to your father?"

Sarah shrugged and bit her lip as if pushing away sad thoughts.

"Alright, I'm all set. Let's get to the airport," she chimed, clearly wanting to put all discussions about her father to bed.

Ianto let her. He understood not wanting to discuss one's father.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto couldn't help the silent tears that ran down his cheeks as he watched the plane that held Sarah, Ruby, Iden, Tink, Joy, and Sean roll down the runway. He felt Jason put a hand on his shoulder.

"Just you and me again, kid," he teased. Ianto could hear the sadness in his voice, though. Adrian had left earlier in the day.

"Isn't it always?" Ianto replied. Jason gave a small smile.

"I wish it was, sometimes. Life would be less complicated that way."

"It'd be a bit boring, though," Ianto pondered.

"Yeah…" Jason conceded. "So, are you going back to work tonight?"

"Only if Jack calls. He gave us all the night off," Ianto explained. They stood silently for a moment and then out of nowhere Ianto's phone began to ring. Ianto smiled. "Yep. Going back to work tonight."

TW-TW-TW

"One—since when did other people know about Weevils? Two—have they done this before, and if so how come we didn't know about it? Three—what do they want with them, anyway?" Jack inquired as he made his way through the hub and into his office.

Ianto was taping up pictures of possible Weevil attack victims. "Might not be connected, but we've noticed a surge of unusual injuries being reported at the A&E unit."

Jack grabbed a pile of reports from Ianto and began to skim through it, "Chunks taken out of legs and arms, deep wounds to backs and stomachs. So we have a wave of Weevil attacks to add to our problems." He tossed the papers onto his desk then leaned against it. "Oh, and by the way, that spray we used on them previously? Looks like they're becoming immune to it."

"They're mutating?" Tosh questioned.

"Or evolving," Ianto added.

"So, any sign of the one we lost earlier?" Jack asked Tosh.

"I've run a trace on the van's number plate. It's fake. Two and a half thousand vans of that type registered in the Cardiff area. Widen that to a forty mile radius and the number doubles."

"So run a trace on the vehicle's—" Jack began but Tosh cut him off.

"—route via traffic cameras? Processing that now," their resident genius said with a smirk then exited the office.

"You know, with her brain, I bet she could take over the world," Jack mused.

"You're probably right." Ianto agreed, having a seat in front of Jack's desk.

Jack looked down at the Welshman with a worried expression. "How is this going on right under my nose? People kidnapping Weevils." He shook his head in shame.

"You can't know everything that goes on within Cardiff, sir," Ianto informed, knowing his statement was truer than Jack realized.

"Who says?" Jack teased then left the office.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto went to feed the resident weevil as the others were tracking down the van. It was making a god-awful noise when he entered the vaults.

"What's your problem tonight?" Ianto asked sliding its food into the cage. The Weevil just stayed in the corner and continued the noise. It was giving Ianto a bit of a headache.

"Look, Uncle Ianto brought you your food. Don't you want to eat?" It didn't take notice.

Ianto activated his comms. "Jack, the Weevil is acting a bit strange."

"What's it doing, tap dancing?" Jack replied.

"No, it's making an awful noise," Ianto explained, completely ignoring Jack's joke.

"Alright. I'll be right there."

Ianto looked back at the Weevil, watching it intently until Jack finally showed up.

"It started ten minutes ago. What do you think it's doing?" Ianto asked.

"I think it's weeping," Jack answered, staring at the beast.

"Why?"

"Owen's been studying this one. Thinks they have a low-level of telepathic ability to share emotions across distance," Jack theorized. Ianto wondered if Owen would have studied him and the other Rift Children had he not Retconned Jack.

"You mean it might be feeling the pain of another Weevil?" Ianto questioned. He wondered if the rush that Rift Children got from each other was another type of telepathic ability.

"I kind of hope we're wrong, though," Jack remarked, breaking Ianto away from his thoughts.

"Why?"

"Because that would mean someone's not only kidnapping Weevils. They're causing them pain."

TW-TW-TW

Ianto held the mobile Jack had given him to see if they could figure out where the Weevil kidnappers were but he hadn't had any luck.

"Could he have been tortured?" Tosh was asking Owen when Ianto walked into the med bay where Owen was examining a body of a Weevil victim.

"No," Ianto answered before Owen could.

Owen crossed his arms over his chest, "Do tell..." he questioned staring at Ianto.

"Well, there aren't any marks on his wrists or ankles to indicate he was tied up," Ianto explained.

"You'd be an expert in identifying _that_, wouldn't you?" Owen mocked.

Jack gave Ianto a quizzical look.

"Anyway," Ianto continued. "It looks like he was beat up."

"Why smack somebody about then set the Weevil on them? Why not get the Weevil to do all the work for you?" Owen continued, more to himself that to the rest of the room.

"Any joy with the phone records?" Jack asked Ianto.

"The last incoming number was blocked and the phone's entire call history has been erased," Ianto replied.

"God, they move fast," Tosh mused.

"If you ask me, these guys are using Weevils to carry out the perfect murder. No finger prints, no traces of recognizable DNA, a quick, guaranteed death. Nothing to connect anyone to the murder," Jack hypothesized.

"Right, should be a piece of piss to find the killer, then," Owen put in with a bit of bite in his voice. He was getting on Ianto's nerves. Ianto understood that the man had lost Diane, someone he must have cared a lot about, but Ianto had lost people this week too, and he wasn't taking it out on the team.

"What about this guy? Someone's got to break it to his wife that he's dead," Gwen added, breaking Ianto from his thought.

Everyone stared at the supposed heart of the team. If she was going to pretend to have a heart, she may as well also pretend to use it.

TW-TW-TW

It had already been a long day and it was only 4 o'clock. Ianto sighed as he read about the live Weevil victim. He didn't want to deal with any of this. He wanted to go home and cry into his pillow for a while. But he trudged on like the loyal employee he was.

"I've tracked down another set of suspicious injuries at the hospital. They sound pretty bad," Ianto announced, walking out of Jack's office and into the main hub.

"Tosh, stay here and monitor Mark Lynch's movements. Ianto with me," Jack commanded in his booming captain's voice.

"I'll come with you," Gwen suggested happily. Ianto decided that if he ever did slap another girl, it was going to be Gwen.

"Go home," Jack ordered her. Ianto resisted the urge to smile.

"But…" Gwen tried to protest.

"It's not a request. Remember—don't let it drift," Jack reminded her calmly. Ianto squeezed past Gwen and considered sticking his tongue at her, but decided that would be a bit childish.

TW-TW-TW

"I already made my statement to the police," the injured man groaned from his hospital bed.

"According to your chart here, you nearly had your heart torn from your rib cage," Jack commented with mock amazement.

"_Ooh_," moaned Ianto with mock sympathy from where he was sitting on the bed eating grapes. He was having fun interrogating with Jack.

"Ten hour operation to repair chest wounds," Jack continued.

"Why should I talk to you?" the man questioned, clearly irritated.

Jack moved closer to the man's bed side. "Let me tell you what did this to you. Six feet high. Teeth like a shark. Rippled skin. And the rage of a wild animal. Am I close?"

"I was mugged. There was three of them. They had knives," the man tried. Ianto decided he was an even worse liar than Sean.

"So, why were your wounds described by paramedics as _bite marks_?" Ianto questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Look, I can't help it if they got mixed up. They're overworked," the man lied. Apparently, he was going to stick to his knife story, no matter how stupid it was.

"There are lots of ways I can get you to talk, but the easiest would be if you consider the consequences should you not tell me the truth. And that is this creature will attack again. Somebody will die and it will be on your conscience. Now tell us the truth," Jack warned the man.

"I can't. They'd kill me," the man confessed.

"Who'd kill you?" Jack asked.

"Everyone," he choked out.

TW-TW-TW

"What did he mean, everyone?" Tosh asked as she, Ianto, and Jack walked into the vaults.

"That's all he'd say—couldn't get any more out of him," Ianto answered.

"That leaves us one option. Okay, Janet, time for a trip out." Jack exclaimed, looking in at the Weevil.

"You call it Janet?" Tosh asked.

"Barbara just never seemed right," Jack replied. It seemed logical enough to Ianto.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto sat in the passenger's seat as Jack drove the SUV like a mad man through the streets of Cardiff.

"You want to release a Weevil in the middle of Cardiff!" Tosh exclaimed from the back seat.

"Not exactly in the middle, a little to the side. I've placed a tracker in its boiler suit, so when they capture it, we'll know exactly where they are." Jack explained.

"It could kill any number of people before then," Tosh complained.

"I'm with Tosh, there's no telling what might happen," Ianto reasoned, hoping Jack listened to him.

"We set it loose in the same place where they took the other one. It's deserted this time of night. We'll be with it every step of the way." Jack reassured, trying and failing the ease his team members' nerves.

"Tracker working?" Jack asked as he stopped the SUV in the car park.

"Yeah," Tosh stated with clear irritation.

"Go, Janet," Jack said, popping open the boot of the SUV.

They tracked the Weevil for a while in the vehicle until it went down a pedestrian-only walk way. Jack and Tosh got out and chased it on foot. When Ianto caught up with them in the SUV sometime later, the Weevil had been taken by the kidnappers.

They tracked the tracker to a chain-linked fence. The kidnappers had removed it from the Weevil's suit. All seemed lost until Gwen's voice came through the comm line and said that the phone of the dead guy had a text message. That message led them to an abandoned building.

It was worse than Ianto had expected. It was some sort of fight club. Men were paying money to get in a cage with a Weevil.

The worst part, when they got there, was finding Owen in the cage.

Jack and Gwen got him out, but not before he was injured.

Ianto was worried as they raced toward the A&E with a bleeding Owen in the boot. Owen may be a complete prick to him sometimes, but in the way that an older brother was to a younger one. Ianto cared for Owen, even if he was afraid of becoming one of his lab rats.

Gwen had taken over the role as caregiver, going as far as pushing Tosh out of the way. That was irritating to Ianto. If anyone in the vehicle loved Owen, it was Tosh. Plus, Tosh was the only other person besides Owen to have medical training.

Jack carried Owen into the hospital when they reached it, leaving Ianto, Tosh, and Gwen waiting in the queue area. Gwen was sobbing into her hands. Ianto rolled his eyes and placed a supportive hand on Tosh's shoulder.

"He's gonna be okay," Jack yelled when he came back causing the other people waiting to jump.

Ianto let out a sigh of relief.

TW-TW-TW

"Well, you're never going to believe this but Owen's pissed at me!" Jack announced, with pure sarcasm as he closed the door to Ianto's flat after visiting Owen at the hospital.

"Really? Did you give him the grapes?" Ianto asked with mock astonishment.

"Said he didn't like them," Jack marveled as he walked over to Ianto and gave him a quick kiss where he was standing by the couch.

"Well, he isn't the sex god he claims to be, then."

"What?"

"Gods eat grapes. It's a fact," Ianto stated.

"Says who?"

"Me. I know everything," Ianto confirmed.

"Do you?" Jack teased.

"Oh yes. I am quite intelligent," Ianto quipped nodding his head.

Jack stole another kiss, "_Hmm_. Show me what you know about making your captain moan with pleasure."

Ianto pushed Jack's coat off his shoulders. "Oh, I can do that."

"Yeah? Will you tie me up and do it, you know, since you're an expert?" Jack asked with a grin.

Ianto stared at the man momentarily. "I… um. Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Jack smirked, pulling his braces down.

Ianto took a step back. "Okay, I want all those clothes off pronto, then I want you spread eagle on my bed." He demanded.

Ianto smiled as he watched Jack race to obey. This was a fun change of events. Ianto walked into the bedroom and opened the bottom drawer on his side table. He pulled out two sets of hand cuffs.

"Have those always been in there?" Jack asked as Ianto attached him to the bed.

"Yep," Ianto grinned, taking a step back and admiring the body of his lover, all his for the taking.

"You just let me use your ties every time without mentioning these?"

Ianto nodded mischievously.

"Now let's see, I believe your request was to 'make you moan with pleasure.' Am I correct?" Ianto asked.

"Oh, yes," Jack pleaded, licking his lips.

Ianto got on the bed between Jack's legs. "Well, I know a way to do that," he teased then licked Jack's erection from bottom to top.

"Yeah, that's a great start," Jack moaned.

TW-TW-TW

AN: Hope you liked it. Remember to review. ;)


	38. Chapter 38

AN: Thank you to my beta Inusagi. She has had a crazy week and she still helped me make this a perfect chapter. I love this chapter, simply because of the drama between Ianto and Owen. Anyway, I would like to take a second and thank all those who have followed and favorite this story and my other ones as well.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

Spoiler: Captain Jack Harkness.

Warnings: Cussing.

Ianto walked into the Hub on the morning of January 21st. He would be happy when the month changed, so that when he looked at the date he wouldn't instantly know the number of days it had been since he had watched his future wife die.

He seemed to be the only one present that morning. Well, that was a lie. Owen was passed out on the couch, but he didn't count. He was hardly even at the Hub anymore, too busy trying to dull the pain of losing Diane with drink. Ianto was pretty sure the doctor was abusing prescription pain killers, as well.

He wanted to comfort the angry man, just as Owen had done for him, but every time he tried Owen would throw venomous words at him.

The sound of Tosh's Rift monitor pulled Ianto from his worried thoughts. He walked over to Tosh's computer and pulled up the program to see if he could figure out the issue.

"What the hell is that?" Owen groaned, waking from his sleep.

"Tosh's Rift monitor program. She set it to alert me if there were any further movements." Ianto explained staring intently at Tosh's computer. "The Rift's been opening more and more recently."

"Yeah, well, I've noticed that. Doesn't take a genius," Owen yawned in his now ever present arrogant tone.

Ianto ignored him and continued to explain. "Tosh reckons the equations are forming some sort of pattern."

He decided that whatever the monitor program was trying to tell him, he wasn't going to figure it out without Tosh. "I should call her. She may have readings on her end and it's a bit over my head."

"Erm… Why wasn't I told about this?" Owen asked as Ianto pressed the mobile to his ear.

"Well, you've been off, haven't you?" Ianto replied. He got a disconnect signal on the other line. "The line's dead."

Ianto tried Jack's phone. It was dead as well.

Ianto went to Jack's office to see if he could find a clue about where he and Tosh were. He smiled when he saw a small post-it note attached right to the spot where Ianto would place Jack's coffee every morning.

_Ianto, _

_Tosh and I went to check out a haunted dance hall on Sage St., shouldn't be long. _

_CJH._

Ianto called Gwen.

"Hello," her voice said cheerfully when she answered.

"Gwen, can you get down to Sage Street?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"We need to get ahold of Tosh. The Rift monitor sounded off. She's with Jack, but both their phones are dead and we can't access her files," Ianto explained.

"Okay, I'll get down there now," Gwen chirped, then ended the call.

Ianto walked back towards Tosh's computer only to find Owen messing with it.

"Hey, I've got into Tosh's files," he informed Ianto, sounding more excited than he had in a while. "All her reports. See there," he pointed to the screen, "December 24th. That's when Diane flew through the Rift."

Ianto understood the excitement now.

"I had to let her go," Owen continued, now sounding a bit sad at the memory.

Ianto decided now would be a perfect time to try and get Owen to open up again, "You were in love with her, weren't you?" he asked gently.

Owen paused for a minute then went on speaking as if Ianto hadn't said anything. "If Tosh knows a way of opening the Rift, maybe we can get Diane back."

"Jack would never allow it. Opening the Rift could devastate the city."

Owen glared at him and walked away.

"The SUV's here, they must be here somewhere." Gwen's voice said over Ianto's comm unit. He didn't respond to her. He decided instead to do a little research on the haunted dance hall.

TW-TW-TW

"Right, the Ritz Dance Hall. Opened in 1932. Shut down in 1989. Due to be demolished one week from now. The reported music is from the 1940's," Owen stated, reading off a paper Ianto had printed out.

Ianto was staring at the various pictures of the dance hall he'd pulled up on the monitor in the conference room.

"Why is a ghost job taking them this long?" Owen mused.

"All those young soldiers," Ianto whispered, more to himself than to the other man. He watched the different pictures appear on to the screen and then disappear. Suddenly, one caught his eye. "Owen, look. There."

Ianto pointed in horror at a picture on the screen that showed Jack and Tosh.

In 1941.

"What the fuck?" Owen shouted, coming up to stand in front of the screen.

"How are we going to get them back?" Ianto whispered.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto stared at Tosh's computer, willing it to give him the answer. It just stared blankly back at him.

Owen walked up behind the Welshman. "Okay, so we use Tosh's information to open the Rift and bring them back," the doctor suggested as if he was deciding which film to see that day.

Ianto could hear that deranged bit of excitement in the man's voice again.

"We can't—half the equation is missing."

Owen's excitement faltered. "It can't be. It must be somewhere else!" He pushed Ianto away from the computer. "Let me try."

Ianto took a deep breath and tried not to snap at the grieving man. If anyone understood the effects grief could have on one's personality, it was Ianto.

"It's not there. It might be in her laptop," he stated calmly.

"What?" Owen started looking around frantically for the personal computer.

"Which she never goes anywhere without," Ianto added, a bit angry because that was something Owen should know about Tosh.

"Shit." Owen growled under his breath. "Shit!" he yelled and stalked off. It seemed to be a reoccurring theme with him today.

"I've had a good look around, but most of the doors are locked," Gwen's voice explained from Ianto's comms.

Ianto rolled his eyes. He had already informed her that their coworkers were in 1941, what did it matter if the doors in the hall were locked?

He sighed. He was worried about Tosh most of all. If for some reason they failed today and were unable to bring Tosh back, she would grow old and die before she was even born. Jack, on the other hand, would be back looking just as young and dashing as he did when he left the Hub this morning. The only worry he had about Jack was personal and selfish, so he kept it pushed down, deciding it was best not to dwell on it.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto looked at the pictures of the dance hall in the conference room.

"Anything on your end?" Gwen's voiced asked in his ear.

He bit his lip slightly and pressed the button on his ear piece to reply. "There are no more photographs of Jack and Tosh after that night. That's encouraging."

"Yeah, unless the bombs got them," Owen stated.

Ianto ignored Owen's unhelpful comment and continued. "The manager, Billis Manger, kept them for posterity."

"Billis Manger, that's the name of the caretaker," Gwen interjected.

"Can't be the same guy, can it?" Ianto asked rhetorically. There was no way it was the same guy.

"Not old enough," Gwen answered anyway.

_Not dead enough,_ he thought.

"Although, he does look a bit out of his time. He wears a cravat," Gwen continued.

It was in that moment, as Ianto looked at the picture of an old man wearing a cravat, that Ianto remembered he worked for Torchwood and would live on throughout space and time forever. Everything was possible.

"Gwen, he is in the photo with Jack and Tosh." Ianto warned quickly.

Owen came bounding into the room, full of excitement again. "He's the answer! He's come through the Rift!" he bellowed almost happily. "Find out what he's doing."

"No, get out, Gwen. Wait for backup!"

"We can't lose him!" Owen spat.

"We can't lose _Gwen_!" Ianto spat back. "Maybe this is a trap. He could be sending us back through time one by one."

"Get out of there, Gwen. That's an order!" Ianto demanded through the comms.

"I'm sorry, but who exactly put you in charge?" Owen questioned.

Both men glared at each other for a few moments before Owen, in a valiant attempt not to disappoint fans of his earlier tantrums, stomped out of the room.

Ianto's personal mobile rang before he could follow the grown man, who was behaving like a stroppy teenaager.

"Ianto Jones," he snapped into the phone.

"Cranky?"

"Jace, I don't have time right now."

"You called me Jace again."

Ianto rolled his eyes. "What do you want?"

"I was going to ask you to lunch," Jason whispered.

"Well, I would, but you know, I am actually doing work. You know, unlike yourself. We don't all have minions to do our bidding," Ianto snapped.

"What are you doing, cleaning up alien guts?" Jason teased.

"No, I'm trying to save the world from a grieving, angry, and bitter doctor!" Ianto yelled and hung up the phone. He was tired of being underestimated.

TW-TW-TW

"What are you doing, Owen?" Ianto questioned when he found Owen messing with the Rift Manipulator.

"We haven't got the missing numbers. We're going to have to improvise with the Rift Manipulator." Owen explained as he continued to pull wires out of the floor.

"We can't. It's risky enough with the equation. If we don't do this properly, anything could happen." Ianto tried to explain.

"Bombs are falling! They're stuck in the middle of the Cardiff Blitz. It's our duty to get them out!" Owen yelled.

"Open the Rift now and the whole _world_ could suffer! We could all get sucked in, and who knows what will come out?" His temper was flaring.

"This is about Diane, isn't it? When will you accept that she _choose_ to leave you!" Ianto growled.

"Whereas your Cyber-girlfriend stuck around the course! Not that she had much choice, wired up in the cellar!" Owen spat.

"That was different."

"Yeah, it was. Mainly, because Diane didn't try and kill us all. And, oh yeah, she also happened to be a human being—" Owen sniped.

"Stop it," Ianto warned.

"—Not some screwed up metal monster!" Owen finished.

"I thought she was still Lisa! I loved her! You only knew Diane for a week," Ianto growled anger taking over his usual calm.

"And it wasn't enough!" Owen shouted. He paused for a minute. "Maybe the Manipulator can calculate the missing figures." he said plugging in a final wire.

Ianto sighed when nothing happened.

"Isn't working," Owen complained.

"Good. Jack would never want us to use it this way," Ianto reasoned finding his calm again.

"There's a piece missing. We've got to find it," Owen fretted, like an addict looking for his next fix.

Ianto decided at that moment that Owen was in no shape to be at work. "Maybe you should go home."

Owen looked up at the now in-control Welshman. "You don't have any power over me." he insisted, taking a step closer to Ianto, trying to intimidate him.

Ianto stood his ground.

"Okay, Ianto. We'll play it your way. Safe and boring."

To no one's surprise, he marched off angrily again.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto sat at Tosh's computer and typed in the equations Gwen was reading off to him.

"I need more equations, Gwen," he said when she had finished and he still didn't have enough numbers.

"Okay, I'll continue to search." She responded. He switched off his comm.

He was stressed out because Owen had decided to go to the dance hall to. All he could think about was both Owen and Gwen getting sucked back in time, leaving him alone to deal with whatever Billis Manger was planning. He'd already decided he'd be calling in help from Jason, if that was to happen.

Ianto phone rang as if Jason had sensed the Welshman was thinking about him.

"Ianto Jones," Ianto snapped, irritated.

"Is there real danger, Yanni? Do I need to be calling in the troops?" Jason asked.

"I don't know," Ianto sighed, sitting down on the couch. "I don't know what to do, Jace." his voice was barely a whisper now.

"Hey, why do you sound like a man giving up? My charges never give up, so don't you dare do it." Jason urged with encouragement.

"Jason, there is a possibility that the Rift will be opened today, forcefully."

"Well, don't let that happen." Jason simplified.

"Oh, okay, thanks for that advice." Ianto snaked, rolling his eyes. "Look, Owen wants to open it. Jack isn't here to prevent it. Owen is second in command, what am I supposed to do?"

"Remember that you are a Child of the Rift. You protect _her_!"

"It is not a god, Jason," Ianto responded slowly.

"Yes it is, Ianto." Jason replied, just as slowly.

"Regardless," Ianto snapped, not in the mood to discuss religion at the moment, "You're right. I have to prevent it from being opened."

"Okay, I am going to start taking precautions here. Umm, if it does happen, I hear it's painful for us. I've never experienced it but…" Jason sounded a bit nervous now.

"Alright, I will keep you informed." Ianto whispered.

"I love you, Ianto."

Ianto bit his lip. If things did go wrong, it could be the last time he talked to his guardian in this life. "I love you, too." he whispered and then ended the call.

"Ianto," Gwen's voice came over the comms.

Ianto switched his comm back on. "Yeah," he said standing up and walking back to Tosh's computer.

"Yeah, it's me I've found it. It's written in blood," Gwen said right as Owen came back into the Hub.

"Gwen found the rest of Tosh's readings," Ianto called to him.

"What's she got for us?" Owen asked, crazy excitement back. He took over at the computer.

"Cos, sine, square, axcx equals x over 2." Gwen read.

"No, I need at least three more numbers Gwen. They must be somewhere else," Owen growled frustrated again.

"Nope, there not." Gwen said simply.

"Well, how do you know?" Owen asked with annoyance.

"Somebody's scraped out the final numbers."

TW-TW-TW

"It still won't work, there's a piece missing," Ianto explained with irritation as he watched Owen messing with the Rift Manipulator again.

Owen pulled something out of his duffle. "Billis had it all along."

"We still don't have all the equation," Ianto tried to reason.

"Well, maybe the machine can work it out," Owen suggested. He went to place the missing piece in the machine.

"Owen!" Ianto yelled.

Owen put the piece in place. There was a pop and Ianto felt a sharp pain in his head, then as fast as it happened it was gone.

Owen was on his way to Jack's office before Ianto could register what was happening.

"There must be something in the safe. The key fits, we just need better instructions," Owen explained, that annoying excitement in his voice again.

"You can't open the safe! You've no right!" Ianto insisted. Owen began to look through the drawers of Jack's desk.

"I'm second in command! I've every fucking right!" Owen spat.

"There's stuff in there we don't know about! That's the way Jack likes it!" Ianto snapped.

"I'm not going to play with his toys, Ianto!" Owen growled. He pulled out a small book that Ianto knew held the passwords to the safe.

Ianto ran a hand through his hair. He wanted to stop Owen, he needed to, but a small selfish part of him wanted the doctor to succeed. He pushed that part down.

"Rhea Silva, the god of wars missus and a nine digit number. Not so clever Jack." Owen said. He walked towards the secure archives. "Move!" he yelled at Ianto.

Ianto watched as Owen opened the safe and pulled out artifact after artifact. He was praying he wouldn't find anything useful.

"Blue prints to the Rift machine!" Owen exclaimed as he opened the last container.

Ianto lunged at him, but Owen was too fast and he was out of the office and headed to the Rift Manipulator. Ianto raced after him.

"There's instructions in here. This isn't some random act of madness!" Owen yelled sounding beyond mad.

"It's a trap! Billis wanted you to find it!" Ianto shouted trying to get the doctor to see reason.

"Why?" Owen asked in disbelief.

"To provoke the Rift! To incite total chaos and destruction! All reports of the haunted dance hall were anonymous. What if it was him? Please, listen to me!" Ianto begged.

"I'm tired of being in awe of the Rift! I'm tired of living with Jack's secrets! We don't even know who he is!" Owen yelled.

"He's our leader!" Ianto cried.

"Not anymore! Get out of my way," Owen growled, heading towards the Rift machine.

Ianto jumped him. They struggled for a minute until Owen got the upper hand elbowing Ianto hard in the stomach then standing up and kicking him in his groin. Ianto felt his breath leave him. Jason was right. He needed a refresher course in combat.

Ianto was going to have to go with the last resort. Once he was able he raced into the armory and grabbed a gun. Then he ran back to the Rift Manipulator where Owen was just about to place the key into the machine.

"Put the key down…" Ianto warned pulling up the gun, "Or I'll shoot."

Owen turned around and stared in shock at the office boy, as if he couldn't believe the man was defying him.

"You have to let Diane go! Like I did with Lisa," Ianto exclaimed, trying not to shake.

"Don't compare yourself to me. You're just a tea-boy." Owen spat.

"I much more than that. Jack needs me!"

"In your dreams, Ianto. In your sad, wet dreams, when you're his part-time shag maybe. That Rift took my lover, and my captain! So if I die trying to beat it, then it will all be in the line of duty."

Owen didn't know what that Rift had done to Ianto, and for some reason that pissed him off beyond belief and he pulled the trigger. The bullet landed in Owen's shoulder. The doctor didn't let it stop him from pushing the key into place.

A pain shot through Ianto's head, sharper and stronger than the pain from before. "You don't know what you've done!" Ianto yelled.

He walked away leaving the doctor bleeding on the ground. He had to get away, the pain was overwhelming. He quickly made his way to the toilets, where he vomited. It was like a migraine from hell.


	39. Chapter 39

AN: Big thanks to my beta Inusagi. She had a lot of email issues with this one and had to edit it twice. So I'd like to thank her for not giving up despite tech issues.

I can hardly believe that we are at the end of season one. Wow.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

Rating: R

Spoilers: Captain Jack Harkness and End of Days.

Warnings: Cursing

Ianto got off the floor of the stall when he heard someone enter the loo. The pain in his head was starting to fade, but now that he had gotten to his feet, he felt another wave of nausea hit him. He turned and vomited again. It was just bile—he hadn't eaten all day.

"Ianto."

Ianto heard the stall door open.

"Jack," Ianto answered casually, as if he wasn't puking his guts out. Another wave hit him and now he was just dry heaving.

He felt Jack's hand on his back. "It's hard, shooting someone. I understand why you're upset."

"What?" he questioned, confused. His phone started to ring. It was probably Jason.

"You want to answer that?" Jack asked.

"What?" Ianto's head really hurt.

To Ianto's horror, Jack looked over his shoulder and into the toilet. "Have you eaten today?"

He tried to focus on what Jack was saying, but the pain in his head was too much. Thankfully, as suddenly as it had come on, the pain vanished. Ianto sighed and nearly passed out. Jack caught him.

"How's Tosh?" Ianto asked, when he was finally able to focus.

"She's fine." Jack offered a steady hand and helped Ianto to his feet. "You need to go get some food."

"No, I'm tracking Bilis," he blurted.

"Who?" Jack asked, taking over the role of confused man.

"The caretaker. He was in 1941 _and_ here," Ianto explained. He went to the sink, washing his hands and splashing water on his face. He bet Tosh had closed the Rift and that's what had cured his headache.

"Okay, well, you can do that _after_ you eat something," Jack commanded.

Ianto nodded.

He went back to the main Hub and tried to avoid his best friend's glare. He'd known she'd be upset with him for shooting Owen.

He "forgot" Jack's request for him to eat and went to Tosh's computer to see if there was any sign of Bilis.

"I knew we did the right thing opening the Rift," Owen spat arrogantly.

Ianto ignored him.

"Still no sign of Bilis," Ianto mused.

"World didn't end after all, did it? Good job you're a crap shot," Owen continued.

"I was _aiming_ for your shoulder," Ianto growled, irritated. He was an excellent shot. He considered giving Owen a matching wound in his other shoulder. For demonstration purposes, of course.

"It was wartime, I know, but it was beautiful." Tosh interjected, changing the subject.

Jack came into the main Hub and walked up behind Tosh.

"There were angels dancing at the Ritz," Jack agreed, sounding a bit sad before retreating to his office.

"Jack," Owen called after him.

"Let me," Tosh whispered and she went into Jack's office.

That left Ianto alone with Owen again, which was the last place he wanted to be.

"If anyone asks, I went home," Ianto murmured without looking at Owen.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto called Jason as soon as he was in his car.

"Oh, thank god," Jason sighed when he answered.

"Hey," Ianto whispered. "I tried, I really did. I even shot Owen, but…." Tears started to fall. There were so many emotions crammed into his head at once. Relief that Jack and Tosh had returned unscathed, anger at Owen for being such a git, plus he was a little scared of what would happen next. Hearing the voice of his guardian seemed to unleash tears he hadn't even realized he was holding in.

"We can't win 'em all, Yanni."

Ianto took a deep breath to help level his voice. "Did you get the migraine from hell, then?"

"Yep, me and the twenty others I called over to prepare for the worst," Jason confessed. "Let me tell you, I never thought I'd say this, but maybe six bathrooms isn't enough."

Ianto laughed, "Well, be glad that you're the Leader so you don't have to clean it."

"Ah… there's the silver lining I was searching for."

"Yeah, glad to be of service," Ianto said, rolling his eyes.

"So, tell me. Do you feel weak?" Jason asked, his tone serious again.

"Yeah, but I haven't eaten all day and I vomited the contents of my stomach," Ianto confessed.

"I feel drained. I haven't felt this way since, well, my first life."

"It's probably because we are near a now-damaged Rift," Ianto guessed closing his eyes and leaning his head against the seat.

"Well, isn't that was the Rift _is_, a damaged part of space and time?" Jason pointed out.

"Yes," Ianto said, "Okay, I don't know why we feel like this. I'm not Google."

"I don't think Google would know."

"I see your point." Ianto yawned.

"Alright, get some sleep. I'll do the same maybe we'll all feel better after some rest," Jason whispered.

"Yeah, maybe," Ianto agreed.

"I love you Yan."

"You too," Ianto mumbled then he hung up the phone.

He considered driving home but then thought better of it. He reached down to recline his seat and fell to sleep in the car.

TW-TW-TW

The sound of his car door opening roused Ianto from his deep sleep just enough to smile at Jack then let his eyes close again.

"Come on, Yan," Jack wheedled. "I can't let you sleep in your car all night. Get up, baby."

"I'm _sleeping_."

"Yeah, but you'll be more comfortable in the Hub," Jack reasoned, effectively pulling Ianto out of the car and to his feet.

"It's cold," Ianto whined.

"It'll be warmer in the Hub, so walk."

"Why don't you carry me?" Ianto complained, then wished he hadn't. Jack threw him over his shoulder in a fireman's hold and began to walk towards the base.

One second, Ianto was going to object.

The next, he was asleep again.

TW-TW-TW

"I know! I'm trying to fix the problem as we speak!" Jack's voice boomed through the Hub.

Ianto shot up off the couch and looked around in panic until he realized where he was.

"You okay?" Tosh asked from her computer. She was typing like a madwoman.

"How did I get here?" Ianto questioned.

She answered without tearing her eyes away from her screen. "Jack found you passed out in your car so he brought you inside."

"Oh." He looked towards Jack's office and watched as the man got up and closed his door. "Who is he talking to?"

"UNIT, the Prime Minister, CIA. Take your pick. I think the only leader who hasn't called is Iden Miller," Tosh teased.

"He won't be calling." Ianto confirmed.

"So… back to my earlier question. Are you okay?"

"Well, when Owen opened the Rift the way he did. It caused every Child in the city to get a massive migraine. Even those not in their first lives are feeling weak and tired, like they have the flu."

"Is the migraine gone?" Tosh asked concerned.

"Yep… I still feel like shit, though."

"Well, don't watch the telly. It'll make you feel worse," Tosh said.

Ianto got up and pulled up the news on Owen's computer. Chaos was the only word Ianto could think of to describe what was happening. It looked like the end of days.

TW-TW-TW

"And I heard but did not understand. And I said 'Master, what is the end of all these things?' And he said 'Go, Daniel, for the things are closed up and sealed until the end of time.' Daniel twelve, verse ten," Ianto preached to the Hub, reading from an old bible he'd found in the archives.

"Sounds a bit close for comfort," Gwen stated when he finished.

"This machine's on the blink," Owen chimed in, tapping at the hand in a jar that Jack was so found of. "It keeps losing power."

Owen straightened up and made a show of holding his shoulder where Ianto had shot him. "Sorry, don't let me stop your portents of doom. Or have you finished?" He snarled at Ianto as he walked by him.

"Nope, plenty more where that came from," Ianto said cheerfully. He grabbed another old text and began to read, "Abbadon, the great devourer. Who'll lead the world into shadow—"

"Yeah, thanks, Ianto. I can do without the superstition. You people love any story that denies the randomness of existence," Jack declared, walking out of his office.

"Thanks. That makes me feel a lot better," Ianto said, putting the book down.

"Okay, I've been fielding calls all night. The government, UNIT, the CIA. Half the Western world and a good proportion of the Eastern are all asking the same question. Is this anything to do with us?"

"And is it?" Gwen asked.

Ianto wondered what it would be like to live in La La Land like Gwen. Peaceful, maybe?

TW-TW-TW

"I've run a profile on every reported temporal anomaly and tracked any physical or temporal pattern," Tosh explained.

They had all gathered in the conference room. Tosh pressed a few buttons on her PDA and the screen showed a map of the world. Only it was now covered in red lines all of them seeming to start from Cardiff.

"Shit!" Gwen exclaimed coming out of la-la land finally.

"The cracks in time trace back here to the Rift. This city, this Hub, is the center. What you're seeing around the world are ripples and aftershocks," Jack explained. He looked at Owen. "The Rift is splintering because of you."

Ianto felt a wave of nausea go through him and went to sit in front of the computer.

"What?" Owen said. It was his turn to visit La La Land.

"You opened the Rift without knowing what you were doing. You've caused the temporal cracks to widen. Time is seeping through," Jack growled.

"If it wasn't for me you'd still be in the nineteen forties!" Owen shouted. "So are we going to sit around crying into our lattes or are we gonna do something about it?"

That made Ianto want a peppermint latte. Maybe it would settle his stomach.

"Bring those who've fallen through time back here and into the vaults," Jack said calmly.

"And do what with them," Owen asked in his most arrogant tone.

"We'll deal with phase one first then I'll tell you about phase two!"

"You can't control time! You can't send them back! What are you going to do?" Owen demanded.

"We'll think of something!" Jack yelled.

Ianto turned to look at both the men. He could feel a small headache growing.

Jack looked around at the team. Tosh and Gwen held nervous faces. Ianto guessed his face looked worried as well, while really, he was just willing his body not to vomit.

"Hey, this is not the end of the world. I'm certain of that," Jack reassured.

That's when things began to go crazy. First, Owen and Tosh went off to the hospital. Then, Jack and Gwen went off to the police station.

Ianto felt his phone vibrate in his pocket for the fifth time that morning.

"Ianto Jones," he said into the mobile.

"There are Weevils in my garden," Jason said, sounding like he was in pain.

"That's odd," Ianto chimed.

"Yes, anyway, don't worry about it. A few of the other guys are helping me and we're putting them in the basement," he groaned. His voice sounded strained.

"What's wrong with you?" Ianto asked, looking at Tosh's computer and seeing about thirty Weevil sightings.

"One of the bastards bit two of my fingers off," Jason moaned.

"Oh, sorry." Ianto reckoned that having your fingers grow back just had to be painful.

"Oh, that's okay. Anyway, have I ever told you how much I hate Torchwood?"

"Once or twice."

"This is all their fault. Why do they have to try and control everything? Fuck, this hurts!" Jason babbled.

"Jace, I have work to do," Ianto said, smiling slightly for the first time that day.

"Okay, well keep me posted about the apocalypse, will ya?"

"Of course," Ianto said, rolling his eyes.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto subdued the Weevil that was terrorizing an outdoor arcade easily enough. The hard part was fitting the beast into his boot.

"Listen, if you could just bend your knees, it would really make my life easier," Ianto reasoned with the alien. It just continued to make a god-awful, never-ending noise.

"Yeah, didn't think you were going to see reason," Ianto said, then hit the Weevil with some more anti-Weevil spray. He succeeded in stuffing it in to the boot and slammed it shut. He rested his head on the car for a moment and groaned when another wave of nausea hit him.

He barely made it to a nearby bin before he vomited. He took a breath and straightened up after the nausea passed. To his surprise, Aria was standing in front of him.

"Aria?" Ianto whispered.

"You have to open the Rift, Ianto," she begged.

"But…" Ianto didn't know what was happening.

"Open it and I will be able to come back. Open it. I miss you, Ianto, and my daughter. Please open the Rift!" Aria pleaded.

Ianto closed his eyes and when he opened them again, Aria was gone.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto stared at the Weevil behind the Plexiglas of the cell. Were they time sensitive? Was that why there were so many of them terrorizing Jason's garden. Could they sense them? He wondered if it was only making that sound because he was present.

"I feel your pain, mate. This sucks," Ianto said to the creature.

"Hello, Ianto," a familiar voice said.

Ianto turned his head to see Lisa. She was just as real as Aria had been.

"W-what do you want? Why are you here? This-this isn't happening," Ianto stammered out.

"There's only one way to stop this, before it gets worse. People will die, Ianto. Thousands of people. Unless you open the Rift."

TW-TW-TW

Ianto stood in a stall in the loo and dialed Jason.

"Hey, fixed it yet?"

"No, listen… Are you having any new symptoms?" Ianto whispered.

"Nope," Jason whispered back. "Why are we whispering?"

"I'm whispering because I don't want to be overheard. You're whispering because you're a complete ass." Ianto snapped, no longer whispering.

"God, you're pissy," Jason said.

"Yeah, well…" Ianto started, but realized seeing ghosts sounded mad, even to an immortal knight. "Listen, I have to go. I'll talk to you later, yeah?"

"Sure."

Ianto hung up the phone then felt another wave of nausea hit him. Conveniently, he was right next to a toilet.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto came out of the loo to find Owen in rant-and-rave mode.

"No, come on, you're all thinking it too. You're the big man here. You keep all the secrets. Well, now's the time to tell us a few and tell us how the hell we're gonna get out of this!" Their doctor was yelling at Jack.

"You wanna know a secret? There is no solution! I can't fix this, because this was never supposed to happen. The first thing you learned when you joined Torchwood was 'Don't mess with the Rift.' But you disobeyed those orders and now everything that's happening is down to you!" Jack snarled at Owen.

"I only disobeyed instructions to get you back," Owen defended.

"And now people are dying." Jack said simply.

Ianto lost focus on the two men arguing in front of him, looking into Jack's office instead.

Iden was standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. "Open the Rift, Ianto. We have to open the Rift."

"Jack, for God's sake!" Gwen yelled, bringing Ianto back to reality.

He watched as Owen left out the cog door. Well, he had just missed something.

TW-TW-TW

"Two grown men having a pissing contest during the end of the world," Tosh was complaining.

Ianto wasn't listening. He'd just directed Jack and Gwen to Bilis's shop and now he was staring at the spot Iden had appeared earlier.

"Ianto, are you listening to me?" Tosh questioned.

"What?"

"Take that as a no."

"I'm sorry, Tosh."

"Ianto, if I tell you something, will you promise not to tell anyone or throw me in a vault?" Tosh asked, sounding nervous.

"Yeah," Ianto agreed, still staring at Jack's office.

"I saw my mother."

That got Ianto's attention. He knew Toshiko's mother had died.

"When?" Ianto asked.

"At the hospital," Tosh whispered.

Ianto rubbed his hand over his face. "I've seen Aria, Lisa, and Iden," he confessed.

"Did they say anything?" Tosh asked.

"They wanted me to open the Rift."

TW-TW-TW

"How do you think Bilis was able to show her that vision?" Tosh asked Jack as they watched Gwen in the vaults talking to her incarcerated boyfriend.

Jack shrugged. "You two haven't had any visions, have you?"

Ianto and Tosh both shook their head before shooting each other worried glances.

"Have you, sir?" Ianto questioned.

Jack shook his head and shut down the monitor they'd been watching Gwen on.

"Did he wake up?" Jack asked the Welshwoman as she came back into the room.

"Yeah… Yeah he did," Gwen said her voice small and shaky. "Tosh can you bring up the CCTV of the vaults. Ah… just leave it on the screen. I know it sounds crazy..."

"Sure, no problem," Tosh said with a smile.

"Thank you, for helping me bring him here…"

"I can't understand how Bilis was able to show you that vision," Tosh inquired.

"It was so real, Tosh. I was in my flat. It smelt like my flat. It had all the sounds of my flat. I touched the blood. I can still feel it on my hands, Rhys' blood..." Gwen said, clearly about to have a break down.

Jack went to the frantic woman and grabbed her hand. "Not gonna happen. Come on, still work to be done."

That's when things really went to hell. The lights went off and Gwen's boyfriend was found murdered in the vaults. Then the lights came back on.

TW-TW-TW

For someone who didn't have to fear death, Ianto still saw a lot of it.

Gwen sat next to Rhys' body in the medical bay gently stroking his hair. Jack was washing the blood off her other hand.

"I'll have to tell his family," Gwen said, her voice monotone.

"We'll deal with it," Ianto said, trying to be kind.

"The way you dealt with that porter the first time I met you? No, you won't deal with him, Ianto."

"Gwen, I'm so sorry," Tosh tried.

Gwen let out a small hysterical laugh. "You never even met him."

Ianto thought that was a bit harsh. Tosh meant she was sorry that Gwen had lost someone, what did it matter if she had met the guy or not?

"This is what happens here. We all end up alone. Not me. No way. You bring him back!" Gwen demanded of Jack.

"No," Jack said, dropping her hand.

"The resurrection gauntlet," Gwen tried.

"Was destroyed," Ianto said.

"We've gotta have something else," Gwen stated.

"I said no," Jack repeated.

"No, there's something wrong with time. So ah… we go can go back to the moment… to the very moment," Gwen staggered.

"Gwen," Jack yelled.

"Well there's gotta be… gotta be something that you can do." Gwen said, almost calmly. "Otherwise what's the fucking point of you?" She screamed at Jack before lunging at him and attempting the beat him.

Jack wrapped his arms tightly around her, telling her how sorry he was with tears in his own eyes.

"Oh shit!" Owen's voice came from the entrance of the med bay. He began to descend the stairs. "What happened?"

"You came back," Tosh said, almost cheerfully as he passed her.

"You alright?" Owen asked Gwen, attempting to pull her from Jack.

"Don't touch me," she yelled, backing away from Owen and Jack with a growl. She went back to her vigil over Rhys's body.

"How many other people have got to suffer?" Owen asked Jack. The Captain didn't answer.

"I'm gonna fix this. I'm opening the Rift." Owen declared and made his way out of the medical bay.

Ianto didn't know why, but he decided at that moment that he agreed with Owen. Maybe it was the hope of getting Aria back, the way Lisa had pleaded with him, or maybe it had been Iden. Who can you trust if you don't trust yourself?

"Make sure you stop him," Jack ordered as Ianto made to follow Owen.

"No." It took everything Ianto had to look at his lover and boss and deny him.

"We're gonna help him," Tosh confirmed, following Ianto out of the med bay.

"I'm doing it, Teaboy. You won't stop me," Owen snapped from Tosh's computer when Ianto walked over to him.

"I'm here to help. Enter emergency protocol one."

"Out of the way, I'll do this," Gwen demanded pushing Owen from the computer and beginning to type on it. She could type faster than Owen.

"Get away from the computer!" Jack's voice commanded.

"Jack," Owen warned.

"This is a trap. All these cracks around the world are diversions. This is what Bilis wants." Jack pleaded.

"What are you afraid of, Jack?" Owen questioned.

"Rhea Silva," Ianto told Gwen when she reached a password section.

"I said _move_," Jack boomed.

The four mutineers turned to see their Captain pointing a gun at them.

"What the hell are you doing?" Tosh shouted.

"Final warning," Jack promised.

"Come on, Jack," Gwen sighed.

"You're a united front now? Toshiko—the poor girl who'll screw any passing alien that gives her a pendent. Owen—so strong he gets in a cage with a Weevil, desperate to be mauled! Ianto—hiding your cyber-girlfriend in the basement. Your three comrades pumped bullets into her remember?" Jack ranted.

Ianto felt anger bubble inside of him. Jack was taking cheap shots.

"I've gotta get Rhys back," Gwen interjected.

"Yeah, 'cause you're so in love with Rhys that you spend half your time in Owen's bed!" Jack continued.

"Fuck you!" Gwen yelled then punched their leader causing him to drop his gun and fall to the floor.

"We're relieving you of your command, Captain! We're opening the Rift and getting back what we lost!" Owen yelled grabbing Jack's gun and pointing it towards the immortal.

Jack made to get up. "Stay down," Owen warned.

"Gonna be in charge, Owen? You gotta have significantly bigger balls!" Jack sneered.

Owen shot him in the head. Ianto turned at the sound. He knew Jack would be fine, but seeing the man you love die was scary nonetheless.

"I'm sick of people doubting me!" Owen exclaimed.

"What have you done?" Ianto asked, kneeling next to Jack.

Gwen took the gun from the clearly mentally unstable Owen. "Come on, let's get this done," she whispered.

TW-TW-TW

"He's gone," Owen whispered.

Ianto looked at the body of his supposedly immortal lover, lying cold on a table in the morgue.

"No." This wasn't happening. He couldn't live in a world where there wasn't a Jack Harkness.

"Mate, I…" Owen stammered.

Ianto couldn't hold back the sobs that began to wrack his body. He was thankful that Gwen wasn't there to see him fall apart, even if Tosh and Owen were. She'd gone to check on Rhys, whose body had vanished after they opened the Rift.

Ianto felt Tosh's hand on his shoulder. It just made him cry harder.

The sound of footsteps coming their way pulled Ianto from his lamenting. He dried his tears and moved to lean against the morgue drawers. Gwen came and took his spot by Jack's head.

"You're certain?" Gwen asked Owen.

"He's ice cold. No vital signs." Owen explained.

"He survived when you shot him. When I first joined he said he couldn't die."

"He was wrong," Owen said.

TW-TW-TW

"I need to go talk to Jason," Ianto told Tosh after they left Gwen to her vigil over Jack's lifeless body. He knew he could just call his guardian and explain what had occurred, but he wanted an excuse to leave the Hub and cry in peace.

He called Iden as soon as he made it to his car.

"You could have saved him!" Ianto yelled as soon as the man answered.

"Calm down," Iden answered.

"No, I can't… I need him, he's my everything!" Ianto sobbed.

"I know." Iden whimpered back. "I know."

Ianto hung up. He couldn't listen take hearing himself cry over Jack while he was crying over Jack.

When Ianto made it to Jason's, the man was waiting outside for him. He rushed to the car as soon as it was parked and pulled Ianto from the driver's seat, wrapping his arms around the Welshman and holding him tight.

"I can't survive this, I don't want to survive this," Ianto sobbed against his guardian's shoulder.

Jason didn't say anything. He just led Ianto into the house and straight up the stairs to his old room, placing him on the bed.

Ianto sobbed into the pillow and screamed into it. Soon the screams turned back into sobs and then to the sounds of gentle snores. Jason never left his side.

TW-TW-TW

"Did Jack ever tell you the purpose of this hand?" Tosh asked while she and Ianto tried to mend the machine the hand in a jar was attached to.

"No," Ianto answered simply. It had been three days and he was finding each day harder than the last.

Suddenly, Tosh got up and began to run across the room. Ianto followed her with his eyes and nearly lost it. Jack was there alive, walking, hugging Tosh.

Ianto tried not to race to his lover, he even tried not to immediately embrace the man when he reached him. Jack was having none of that, though. He pulled Ianto in. Ianto breathed in the scent he never thought he would smell again before pulling back slightly to look at Jack's face.

Jack pressed their lips together, deepening the kiss slightly. Ianto didn't care that everyone was watching. The only one clueless to Jack and Ianto's relationship was Gwen and her opinion didn't matter to him at all.

TW-TW-TW

"I'd offer you some coffee, but the machine broke," Ianto said to Jack. They were all in the Captain's office. All happy to be alive. All glad to have Jack back.

"That's okay, Ianto," Jack grinned. It was a grin that Ianto knew meant Jack wanted something besides coffee.

"Well, the girls and me will go get some," Owen offered.

"That's okay, I don't want any," Gwen smiled.

"Wasn't an option," Tosh whispered, pulling Gwen from the room.

"I'm sorry, Jack," Ianto whispered as soon as the cog door shut behind the others. He went to lean on the desk beside the lover he thought he had lost.

"It's okay, Ianto," Jack reassured the young man.

"No, it's not," Ianto replied, a tear escaping from beneath his eyelashes.

Jack stood up and wiped it away. "Temptation is often hard to resist," he whispered.

"What would've tempted you, Jack?"

"The right kind of doctor," Jack smiled, then pressed his lips against Ianto's.

The kiss was demanding and needy. Ianto gave himself to it. Jack pushed Ianto up onto the desk and grinded against him.

They both stopped when they heard a crash. Ianto turned to see a decanter of Scotch broken on the floor.

Jack pulled away. "I'll clean it." He grinned as he walked away to go get cleaning supplies.

Ianto knelt on the floor and began to pick up the broken glass. Once that was done he went looking for Jack. Apparently, the man had gotten lost on his way to the supply cupboard.

Ianto couldn't find him. He still hadn't found him when the others came back.

"I can't find Jack!" he stated frantically when the cog door shut behind his team members.

"Well, I've heard that if you shout 'ollie ollie oxen free,' the other kids will come out of their hiding places," Owen teased.

Ianto ignored him. He looked around the Hub again. His eyes landed on the machine that was usually attached to the hand in a jar.

The jar was gone.

"Jack's gone," Ianto said solemnly.


	40. Chapter 40

AN: Thanks to my beta Inusagi. Even though she didn't like this chapter. I have a feeling that a lot of you won't either, but it's necessary for character development. Keep that in mind when you review. (Please review)

Rating: R

Spoilers: None really

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

Warnings: Implied M/M Sex.

C'est bien, mon amour, je suis ici- It's okay my love, I'm here.

Chapter 40

"So, she's three and she seems well cared for," explained Melody, one of the Cardiff Rift's spotters.

Ianto looked at Jason, who was sitting next to him at the table in the dining room. The man had a glazed-over expression, and it was clear he hadn't been listening to a single word Melody had said.

Ianto sighed. "Thanks, Melody. You seem to be doing an excellent job. What was the name of the ten year old boy again?"

"Matthew," Melody smiled.

"Okay, see if you can get Richard at the hospital to pull some strings to see exactly how Matthew broke his leg, just to be sure he isn't being harmed purposefully," Ianto suggested.

"Okay," Melody agreed.

Ianto looked down at the notes he'd taken while Melody went over the minor Rift Children that she was watching over. "Alright, that seems to be all. Unless you have anything to add, sir?" he questioned Jason.

"Nope, you can go," Jason mumbled.

"Thank you, sir," Melody muttered, clearly noticing the Leader's lack of focus.

"Jason, I don't think anyone has informed you, but you're the Leader of the Cardiff Rift," Ianto teased as soon as Melody had gone.

"Adrian's been gone _forever_," Jason pouted.

"So has Jack, but I'm still doing my job. Besides, at least you know where Adrian is. You can even talk to him on the phone." Ianto replied harshly, closing the folder in front of him.

"Let's go out on the pull," Jason suggested, ignoring Ianto's outburst altogether.

"You have no logic. You miss Adrian, so you want to go out and find someone to cheat on Adrian with?"

"It's not cheating. Adrian and I have an agreement. As long as I don't do it in front of him or talk about it to him, it's fine."

"You know you're the only one he sleeps with, right?" Ianto asked, genuinely curious.

"Yes, and…?"

"Well, don't you think he might like to be able to say that about you?"

"Are you really trying to give me relationship advice?"

Ianto shrugged.

"Listen, I can't go that long without it, okay? I'm as messed up as he is, but in the opposite way, which is possibly why we work. I need to have sex."

"Then by all means, go out on the pull," Ianto sassed, rolling his eyes.

"You don't want to go with me?"

Ianto shook his head.

"You want to go to my room with me?" Jason tried.

Ianto looked at his guardian with wide eyes. It was the first time Jason had flirted with him since they had shared their goodbye kiss.

"I gotta get back to Torchwood," Ianto blurted avoiding answering.

"Yeah, okay. Well…call me before eight if… you know…" Jason mumbled.

TW-TW-TW

It was odd to Ianto to see construction workers in the Hub. He knew they would be Retconned as soon as they finished remodeling but still.

"Hello, Mr. Jones. That new conference room's coming along real nice, don't you think?" asked Kai, one of the workers. He made Ianto's gay-dar go off the moment they met and apparently, Ianto had had the same effect on him. The boy seemed smitten.

"Yeah, it is," Ianto grinned.

"So, I was wondering…" Kai began.

"I'm sorry, Kai. Can we finish this later? I have a ton of paperwork to get through in my office," Ianto said, cutting the younger Welshman off before he could ask him out.

"Yeah, of course," Kai smiled, nodding his head. Ianto smiled politely back then turned and walked away.

He had to suppress a growl of frustration when Gwen began to follow him into the archives.

"So, Kai seems nice," Gwen grinned as soon as she and Ianto were in his office. Ianto sat down behind his desk.

"He is," Ianto agreed.

"_Well_, I heard from Owen that he has a thing for you," Gwen hinted.

"I'm aware."

"Look, Ianto, we're all concerned about you. Jack's been gone for almost two months. He isn't coming back." She was trying to play the part of caring friend and Ianto felt like she was failing.

"What does Jack's return have to do with Kai?" he asked.

"He'd be a good rebound, is all I'm saying."

"Well, that would make me a _wonderful_ human being. Yes, I should definitely use Kai because I'm lonely." Ianto's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"He would get over, besides we're going to Retcon him, anyway," Gwen shrugged.

"I will move on when I'm ready."

Gwen looked angry for a moment then looked down at her hand. Her engagement ring was beautiful, there was no denying that.

"I'm sorry, Ianto. You're right. I'll let you get back to work," she whispered and thankfully left Ianto alone.

Gwen had been easier to deal with since Rhys had given her that ring. It was like a little reminder that she had someone.

Ianto couldn't help but admit that she was right. Jack most likely wasn't coming back, but he had already decided that he wouldn't be getting involved with anyone else. He knew he didn't have much time left in this life. He wasn't going to let someone fall in love with him just so to force them to mourn him when he left.

He could easily go out on the pull with Jason, but he was rubbish at it. The one time he'd actually tried to have a one night stand, he'd ended up dating the girl for two months. He knew one of his biggest flaws was the way he became attached to people too easily.

Ianto let out a sigh and started on the mountain of reports on his desk. Jack hadn't lied when he had told them the Rift would be more active.

TW-TW-TW

"Okay, let's fuck," Ianto yelled as he walked into Jason's living room.

"Can we maybe wait until Melody here leaves?" Jason grinned, gesturing to the woman sitting next to him on the couch.

Ianto blushed. "Oh god, Melody. I'm so sorry."

"That's okay. I was just leaving," Melody smiled. She got up off the couch and picked up a file off the coffee table. "Goodnight, Rift Leader, Mr. Jones."

"Goodnight, Melody," Ianto nodded at her.

"Are you sure, Ianto?" Jason asked, as soon as Melody was gone.

"Yes," Ianto affirmed

Jason grinned. "Okay, well, did you want to do it now?"

"Yep, sounds good to me."

Jason walked over to Ianto and pulled him close. "Rules?"

"Don't get mad if I accidently call out Jack's name."

Jason narrowed his eyes. "Don't get mad if I call you Adrian."

Ianto nodded and pressed his lips against Jason's. Jason moaned and then took control, his tongue demanding entrance immediately. He started to pull at Ianto's tie, loosening it so he could start on the buttons of the shirt below it. He got frustrated halfway down and ripped the shirt the rest of the way.

Ianto broke the kiss. "I liked this shirt," he complained.

"I'll buy you a new one," Jason promised, pushing the now-ruined shirt off broad shoulders and starting to attack Ianto's neck. He was sucking on a spot that drove Ianto crazy, reminding him of their first time.

Ianto pulled away. "You cheated."

"What?" Jason laughed.

"Our first time. I thought you just, you know, were that good, but you just already knew what would drive me crazy."

"Okay…?"

"So that means… that I sleep with you when I'm Iden?"

Jason nodded.

"Do we do it the same way or am I in control?"

"I guess you'll find out," Jason teased and pulled Ianto back to him, pressing warm lips to his neck again.

Ianto let out a moan. "Please, take me to bed, Jace," he whispered against his guardian's ear.

Jason pulled away and grabbed Ianto's hand and led him up the stairs.

"I can't imagine you not being in control," Ianto said, before conversation was beyond him.

"Good," Jason replied.

"Do you give Adrian control? I mean, if I had gone through what he went through, I think I would require control."

"Adrian requires _trust_ and he trusts me." Jason answered opening the door to his room. Ianto followed him in. "Finish getting undressed and lay on the bed," Jason commanded, heading to his closet.

"No paddles," Ianto called toeing off his shoes.

"Yeah, yeah."

Ianto got on the bed when he was completely nude and settled into the middle of it. Jason came out of the closet after a moment holding two pairs of hand cuffs.

"Hands over your head," Jason said, climbing onto the bed. Ianto did as he was told. Jason clicked one pair of cuffs on his wrists then attached one of the rings of the other cuffs to the middle of the ones securing Ianto's wrists. He attached the last free ring to the bed.

Jason got off the bed and started to take his own clothes off. "How sore would you like to be after this?" he teased the Welshman.

"As long as I get to come at least twice, I don't care," Ianto grinned.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto stood in Jason's kitchen making omelets the next morning. He wasn't too sore.

"You making me breakfast?" Jason asked as he entered the kitchen.

"Well, not just you. I happen to be hungry as well," Ianto smiled.

Jason walked up behind Ianto and wrapped his arms around the Welshman's waist.

"Jace, can we keep it the way it was?" Ianto asked.

"What do you mean?" Jason asked, kissing Ianto's neck.

"I mean, where you don't do this," Ianto replied indicating Jason's arms.

Jason moved away. "So you're saying you just want sex?"

"Yeah."

"Alright," Jason shrugged, trying and failing to act as if it didn't bother him.

"Jason, it's not that I mind, okay? It's just… I don't want you to think that it's more than what it is," Ianto explained.

"You mean you don't want me to think you love me?"

"I do love you."

"Not like you love _him_," Jason accused. "You never will, either."

"_Adrian_ loves you like I love him."

"Yeah, he does. I bet it would drive you crazy if I said I loved him more than you, wouldn't it?" Jason sneered.

"Last night shouldn't have happened. It opened a door that should've remained shut," Ianto choked out. He didn't know why he was getting emotional. He wiped away a lone tear hoping Jason hadn't noticed it.

"Well, that's nice, maybe in your second life, when you find me_… You should remember that_!" Jason roared then left the room.

Ianto stared at the place his guardian had vacated. Jason had a temper, that was for sure, but usually he didn't yell. He had always admired how his guardian could keep his voice level and be pissed at the same time. He wondered if Jason was more angry or…or hurt. He also wondered whether the man was more upset with him or with Iden.

Ianto turned off the stove and went in search of his guardian. He found him in the small gym off the pool area. He was beating a punching bag. Ianto was happy it wasn't him.

"You know better than to follow me when I'm angry," Jason snapped, not stopping his assault on the bag.

"Yeah, I do. I just don't understand why you're so upset."

Jason stopped and stared at Ianto. "I'm _always_ the bad guy!" he yelled.

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I had to train you, which made you hate me. I knew what was going to happen to Lisa. I couldn't do anything. I just had to let it happen. I knew three days before Aria and I had to hold you in that room to prevent you from leaving. I had to let you watch your wife die!" Jason yelled.

Ianto had never seen Jason lose it like this.

"Jace," Ianto tried, but Jason held up his hand.

"Don't… just… don't," Jason yelled then hit the bag again so hard it fell from the ceiling. Jason let out a frustrated growl then fell to his knees and began to sob.

Ianto felt awful. He had caused this strong-willed man to sob like a child. He didn't know what to do, Jason was always there for him, but he didn't know how to return the favor.

"What happened?" asked a French accent from behind Ianto. Ianto turned to see Adrian holding a suitcase. He dropped it to the floor and pushed passed Ianto to get to his lover.

" C'est bien, mon amour. Je suis ici," Adrian whispered.

Jason put his arms around Adrian and sobbed onto his shoulder. "I hate being the bad guy," Jason choked out.

"You've always been my hero," Adrian assured the sobbing man.

Ianto realized at that he was watching something that should be a private moment so, knowing that his guardian was now cared for, he left the mansion.

TW-TW-TW

"I noticed that you love to make coffee. It seems to calm you if you're upset." Kai was explaining to Ianto as he gave him a tour of the newly-remodeled parts of the Hub. "I put in a coffee maker in the kitchenette but I also…" Kai opened the door to the new conference room. "…put one in here as well."

Ianto smiled at the younger Welshman, who would probably be an amazing partner. Someone who noticed the little things, who wouldn't be scared to say he loved him, who would never intimidate him. Sadly, Ianto knew Kai deserved so much more than what he could give him.

"That's lovely, Kai. Thank you," Ianto smiled. Kai's face lit up.

"So, I was thinking we could go to dinner," Kai blurted out then looked nervously at his feet.

"Sound's good," Ianto agreed.

"Really?" Kai exclaimed, looking up at Ianto.

"Yeah. There's a nice French place near here," Ianto suggested.

"Okay."

TW-TW-TW

Ianto enjoyed how easy it was to talk to Kai—about normal things. No aliens, no Rifts, no drama. Ianto wished, not for the first time, that he was normal. He wished he could have a normal job and have a normal relationship. Kai was giving him a taste of what that would be like as they chatted over their meal.

"Would you gentlemen like any dessert or coffee?" the young waitress asked as she took their plates.

"Coffee for me. Kai?" Ianto asked.

"Coffee," Kai confirmed not taking his eyes off Ianto.

Kai was in the loo when the coffee arrived so it was easy for Ianto to slip Retcon into it.

They chatted over their coffee until Ianto's phone rang. He excused himself, telling Kai that he would call him in the morning. Ianto discreetly paid for the meal then left his moment of normal behind.

"Hey, it's Ianto," Ianto said into the phone when Gwen answered.

"Owen had a little run in with a walking blowfish."


	41. Chapter 41

AN: Alright my beta and I have parted ways it seems. But I want to thank her one final time for all the help she has given me, both with this fic and my overall understanding of grammar. So thanks Inusagi for all the help you have given me.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

Spoilers: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

Rating: R

Warnings: John Hart. (He needs a warning attached to him :))

Ianto stood in the brand new conference room waiting on the rest of the team and the uninvited guest. The night was just getting started and Ianto was already physically and emotionally exhausted.

First he had had to Retcon Kai, then he had had to help the team track down a thieving Blowfish. After that shock, anger, and happiness all hit him at once when Jack showed up, looking cheerful as ever, as if he had only been away for the weekend instead of three months. Ianto wasn't fooled though he could see the new pain in his lover's eyes. It matched the pain he saw in Iden's.

Ianto hadn't even had time to adjust to Jack's return when the man took off again, only this time the team was able to follow their leader to a local bar. Ianto had sensed that Jack's friend was a rift child before he even stepped foot into the club.

Now they were helping the renegade, who had already murdered someone tonight. Ianto had only been able to send Adrian a quick text about the visitor. Jason wasn't talking to him still.

"Ianto Jones," chimed the voice of Jack's old flame as he walked into the room. Ianto felt the rush that he put off from being a child of the Rift. "Had a visit from you already tonight," he continued. "'When you see me, don't let anyone know you know me or I'll cut off your manhood'" he tried to mimic a Welsh accent.

"I have no idea what you're referring to," Ianto deadpanned trying not to show interest in the shorter man.

John smiled, "Oh, okay, well, so I can tell Jack about how I have met you before then?"

"I don't recall meeting you," Ianto stated.

"Oh, yeah, well, you haven't yet, but you will."

"Iden isn't even in town," Ianto pointed out dropping the premise that he didn't understand what the man was talking about.

John pulled his shirt collar down and looked at the skin underneath. "Well, someone gave me this hicky."

"Now I know you're lying," Ianto growled.

"Do you?" John said walking over to Ianto.

"Stay where you are please," Ianto warned.

"I was going to show you the evidence is all," John smirked going to the opposite side of the table and sitting in a chair before putting his feet up.

"That's a brand new table," Ianto huffed.

The man shrugged.

"You need to check in with the Rift Leader as soon as possible," Ianto informed the man. "Also, understand that you have committed crimes here, so I won't be able to allow you to leave until those are answered for."

"I already saw the _Minister_ so I think I'm good," The blond man smiled. "Well, better than good actually," He winked.

Tosh came into the room then thankfully because Ianto felt like he was on the edge of getting violent with the annoying man in front of him.

"Hello gorgeous," John flirted. Tosh blushed and started to set the monitor up.

Ianto walked to stand beside his best friend. "He's is like me. Also, he knows about Iden. When you get a chance can you delete the footage in the room from the last fifteen to twenty minutes?"

"Oh, Beauty knows Eye- Candy's secret," John chimed.

"No one's talking to you!" Ianto snapped.

"Beauty, come here and look at this hicky, tell me if it's one of Eye- Candy's, he doesn't believe me." John asked Tosh.

"I wouldn't know," Tosh said blushing even more.

"You mean he hasn't snatched you up yet," John drawled.

Tosh blushed again.

"Who hasn't snatched who?" Owen called walking in the room.

"This one's nice, too," John leered at Owen. Ianto rolled his eyes.

"Not in a million years, I'm afraid," Owen informed the man.

"Oh, I do love a challenge," John smirked.

"Alright, let's get this over with," Jack bellowed as he walked into the room, Gwen was hot on his heels.

TW-TW-TW

"Are you upset that Gwen put us together?" Jack questioned once Ianto and he were in the SUV on their way to the office building.

Ianto shrugged.

"Are you doing the silent treatment thing?" Jack asked.

Ianto shrugged again.

"I missed you," Jack whispered.

Ianto looked out the window and bit his lip.

Jack let out an audible sigh before starting to babble about anything and everything.

TW-TW-TW

"Oh yeah, loving that 'officey' feel. I always get excited in these places. To me they're exotic: office romances, photocopying your butt. Well, maybe not your butt, although, as we're here, why don't we photo..." Jack babbled, which he had been doing for the last five minutes.

"The rift was active at these co-ordinates approximately 200 feet above ground. That means this floor, or the roof," Ianto interrupted as he began to look for the canister. Simply because he couldn't take anymore of Jack's constant talking.

"How are you, Ianto?" Jack asked softly.

_Confused, hurt, nervous, angry, a bit hungry, tired, overwhelmed, actually more than a bit hungry_. "All the better for having you back, sir," Ianto replied.

"Could we maybe drop the "sir" now? I mean, while I was away, I was thinking. Maybe we could, you know, when this is all done: dinner, a movie..." Jack responded.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" Ianto stammered interrupting Jack again.

"Interested?"

"Well, as long as it's not in an office. Some fetishes should be kept to yourself..." Ianto answered beginning to look for the canister again.

"Looks like we're going to have to go through every drawer, bin, and plant-pot," Jack mused.

"Right, okay. I'll do this floor. Don't want you getting over excited. You take the roof, you're good on roofs," Ianto suggested. Really he just needed a minute alone.

"Jack? Why are we helping him?" Ianto questioned the immortal as he turned to leave the office.

"He's a reminder of my past, I want him gone," Jack stated simply. Ianto nodded he wanted him gone because he was a reminder of his future.

Jack turned to head out the door again but paused and looked back at Ianto, "By the way, was that a yes?"

"Yes," Ianto blurted. "Yes..." he repeated softer. Jack smirked and exited the room.

Ianto began to look for the canister thinking about Jack. What was he going to do about Jack? He knew what he wanted to do to Jack, but he didn't know if he should. The beep of a lift pulled him from his thoughts.

Ianto went to the lift bay with caution. He knew it was John Hart he could feel him.

"John?" Ianto question his gun at the ready. He moved to look in an open lift. No one. The sound of a gun cocking made Ianto realize he had made a big mistake. He quickly relinquished the gun to John.

"Into the lift eye candy," John demanded. "Your friends are bleeding, dying. You barely have enough time to save them."

Ianto walked in and turned around. With slow movements he pressed the button on his comms. "Tosh, Owen…" he tried.

"What am I a child? That's a primitive bit of technology easily blocked. You should be embarrassed.

When you get to the bottom run. You look like a man who enjoys a challenge, see if you can safe them. Come back up here, I'll shoot on sight." John warned.

"Going down," chimed the electronic voice of the lift.

"Going down, yes please," John jested.

Ianto forced the doors of the lift back open. "Why are you doing this?" he shouted.

Ianto noticed that John looked momentarily frightened, but quickly recovered. He ran his gun gently over Ianto's face. "We're a cosmic joke eye-candy. An accident. Our mothers stood to close to rifts and now we have to live forever. The jokes, the sex. Just covers the fact that nothing means anything. And the only consolation, Money! So run, Ianto Jones," he explained then pushed Ianto back into the lift.

"Going Down. Doors closing," chimed the electronic voice.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto stood with the rest of team Torchwood and watched as Captain John Hart disappeared, he really wished that that was the last time he would see the man but he knew it wasn't. He could hope not to see him again in this life though.

John's parting words to Jack had awoken Ianto's curious nature, but Jack didn't seem interested in explaining who Gray was so he would just have to wait.

"So what are we going to do to avoid ourselves?" Gwen asked as she Ianto and Jack piled into the SUV. Owen and Tosh were taking Owen's car.

"Well, I guess you should take advantage of the time and spend it with Rhys," Jack tried.

"Oh, that won't work I talked to Rhys at about midnight. So I can't go home until after that," Gwen chirped.

"Harkness, we deserve a night in a hotel," Owen's voice filled the comms.

"I'm with Owen," Ianto agreed.

"Alright, let's do it," Jack smiled at Ianto.

TW-TW-TW

Jack pulled Ianto to the side as the rest of the team made their way into the lobby of a posh hotel.

"So... Should I get five rooms or just four?" Jack asked nervously.

"Four, but one with two beds," Ianto answered simply then walked in after the rest of the team.

"Well this is nice," Tosh smiled at Ianto when he sat down next to her in the lounge area of the hotel.

Ianto shrugged and watched as Owen and Gwen ordered drinks at the bar. "I'm going to be in trouble for letting him go," the Welshman sighed.

"What could you have done. 'No Jack, sorry, you can't send him away, I have to take him to the Rift Leader?'" Tosh teased.

Ianto looked at the woman and rolled his eyes. She nudged his shoulder with her own. "Jack's back," she grinned.

Ianto nodded, "Yeah, but I don't think I can just pick up where we left off," Ianto pouted as he watched Jack walk over to them.

"Here ya go, Toshiko. Have a lovely evening," Jack smirked as he handed Tosh her room key.

"I'm probably just going to sleep," Tosh admitted before getting up and giving the captain a quick hug. "I'm glad you're back."

"Me too," Jack responded. His smile didn't falter as he watched the tech savvy woman head to the lifts.

"I'm gunna go give these to Gwen and Owen," Jack said handing Ianto his room key, "Then I will meet you up there."

Ianto nodded in acceptance and pulled himself up off the couch. "I'm glad you're back too," he whispered. Jack caressed his cheek and nodded.

TW-TW-TW

"So what's the latest gossip with you?" Jack asked Ianto as he popped a grape from room service into his mouth.

"Well, I have saved the world singlehandedly at least five times since you've been gone. I won an award for greatest coffee. Got married and divorced, and had three children," Ianto teased using his fingers to count the outrageous lies.

"Wow, you've been a busy bee. Now the children. Was it with three separate women?" Jack grinned.

"Two woman and one man," Ianto deadpanned.

Jack's grin got bigger. "Well, you little whore," Jack said with mock contempt.

"Really it's just been the same. Except not as fun," Ianto admitted.

"How about personally," Jack prodded.

Ianto realized that Jack was trying to find a nice way to ask if Ianto had a new love.

"Okay, well we remodeled the hub as you saw. We had a small group of contractors come in and do it. They have all been Retconned, but the lead contractor Kai, he had a thing for me. I didn't pursue it though," Ianto explained.

"I see," Jack acknowledged looking down at his plate.

"So, how's Jason?" Jack asked casually after a few seconds of silence.

"He isn't speaking to me, so I don't know," Ianto replied.

"Oh," Jack stated not evening trying to disguise that the news made him happy.

"He's my best mate Jack. Weather we used to be together or not. I've known him longer than anybody currently in my life, besides my sister. So at least try to sound a bit upset about it," Ianto snapped.

"I'm sorry," Jack apologized grabbing Ianto's hand and gently running his thumb over the top of it.

Ianto was tempted to pull his hand away. "How long has it been since you've slept?" he asked instead.

Jack shrugged.

"Well come on, let's get some sleep," Ianto suggested standing up and heading to one of the beds in the room.

Jack got up as well and headed for the other bed. "And what do you think you're doing?" Ianto questioned.

Jack looked at the Welshman and raised his eyebrows. "Going to bed."

Ianto patted the bed he was on. "Come on, I need you to protect me from the nightmares," Ianto teased.

Jack smiled and slid into bed beside Ianto immediately pulling him into a spooning position.

"Did you get hurt in the explosion?" Jack whispered.

"Nope," Ianto yawned.

"I really did miss you Ianto," Jack said gently before kissing Ianto's forehead and falling asleep.


	42. Chapter 42

AN: I love this chapter, because there are a few Iden and Ianto scenes and those are fun to write. I've already started chapter 43 but it will probably be Thursday before I have it up.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

Rating: R

Spoilers: Sleeper, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Warnings: M/M Sex

Ianto awoke to the feeling of someone kissing his neck. A rush of arousal that wasn't his told him instantly it was Jack. It felt almost like a dream, but a certain pressure on his back made him know it was real.

"You're going to hurt someone with that," Ianto teased referring to Jack's erection, which was pressed against his back.

"My intent isn't to harm," Jack murmured not stopping his assault on Ianto's neck.

"What is your intent?" Ianto asked.

"To please, of course."

Ianto moaned as Jack slid a hand into his boxers and gripped him.

"You do know how to please," Ianto growled.

He leaned his head back onto Jack's shoulder as the man started to stroke him. It remained him of the first time the older man had given him a hand job. He hoped he was going to get more than that this morning though.

"Tell me what you want baby," Jack whispered.

"Everything," Ianto moaned.

"Hmm… would that include me taking you?"

"Yes."

"You taking me?"

"Yes."

"sixty-nine?"

"Umm… yeah… before the taking though," Ianto breathed out.

Jack pulled his hand away causing Ianto to whimper.

"Don't move," Jack demanded getting off the bed. Ianto turned slightly so he could see what Jack was doing. "I said don't move," Jack pouted as he pulled his trousers off.

"Sorry," Ianto grinned. He wasn't sorry at all.

Jack pulled the covers off Ianto and threw them to the floor. Ianto sat up and pulled his t-shirt off then shimmied his boxers off as well throwing both articles of clothing to the floor.

Ianto let out a yell when Jack pulled his upper body so that his head was barely hanging off the bed and Jack's groin was in his face. He didn't waste any time taking Jack's member into his mouth. It had been too long.

Jack growled and bent over Ianto so he could give the Welshman the same treatment. The only thing that could be heard for the next five minutes was the sound of muffled moans.

"I need you now Ianto," Jack moaned out. Apparently he couldn't take it anymore he rose off Ianto and looked down at him. "Get in the middle of the bed."

Ianto rushed to comply and watched as Jack went over to where he had discarded his trousers and grabbed lube from his pocket.

"Hurry up," Ianto teased snapping his fingers.

"Bossy much?" Jack grinned getting up on to the bed and pushing Ianto's legs apart.

"Someone had to be the boss while you were gone."

Jack rolled his eyes and coated his fingers with lube before bringing them down to Ianto's entrance. Ianto moaned when Jack pressed a finger into him.

"See this is the naked wrestling I was hoping for," Jack jested then bent down to kiss Ianto as he continued to prepare him.

"So by the end you hope to be the boss again," Ianto tried to joke but the effect was lost because of his heavy breathing.

"Think I already am," Jack growled pulling his fingers out of Ianto then hurriedly lubed his member before pressing into his Welshman.

"Always," Ianto whimpered letting his head fall back.

God he had missed Jack.

TW-TW-TW

"Your phone rang while you were in the shower," Jack called to Ianto when he came out of the hotel bathroom. The man was standing by the window drinking a tiny bottle of scotch.

"Don't you think it's a bit early for the hard liquor, sir," Ianto teased grabbing his mobile off the bedside table. The missed call was from Adrian.

"Who was it," Jack questioned.

Ianto smiled and looked at Jack. "Like you didn't look."

"I didn't," Jack protested.

"Oh, okay. It was my sister then," Ianto lied hoping to catch Jack in his.

Jack raised his eyebrows. Ianto raised his back.

"Fine, I looked. Who's Adrian?" Jack whined.

"My French lover," Ianto deadpanned.

Jack rolled his eyes and turned to look back out the window. "Fine, don't tell me," he pouted.

Ianto sighed and walked over to stand behind the childish man. He wrapped his arms around Jack's waist and rested his chin on the man's shoulder.

"He's Jason's boyfriend," Ianto whispered gently.

"That's nice," Jack mumbled.

"Come on Jack, I told you, don't be mad."

"Why is he calling you?"

"I don't know, I missed the call."

Jack let out an audible sigh and pulled away from the Welshman. "I'm going to go shower," he snapped then retreated towards the bathroom.

Ianto thought Jack was pissy for a man who just got laid. He dialed Adrian's number on his phone and rolled his eyes at the form of his retreating lover.

"Hello Ianto," Adrian answered diplomatically. Ianto rolled his eyes again.

"You called?"

"Yes, Iden is in town and he is demanding a meeting to discuss the issue between you and Jason." Adrian said with clear irritation.

"But… Jack just came back," Ianto pouted. Even if the man was being huffy he didn't want to leave him.

"Yes, well… be here at two. Ruby is here if that makes you happier," Adrian replied his voice uncaring.

"Fine."

Adrian hung up without even saying goodbye.

Ianto decided to join Jack in the shower. It didn't matter that he had just gotten out of one. He needed to butter Jack up before he told him he would be going to Jason's. He would be telling him. He wanted to be as honest with Jack as he could from now on.

"Do you need some help," Ianto questioned when he got into the shower with Jack.

"If I did I'd call my Italian lover," Jack pouted.

Ianto smiled, "I could be Italian," he remarked in a fake Italian accent.

Jack looked back at him and smiled. "That was rubbish."

"Was not!" Ianto whined.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Come here."

Ianto walked over to Jack and the man wrapped his arms around him.

"I prefer Welsh accents," Jack whispered.

"I kinda got a thing for American ones," Ianto admitted.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. You're the only man for me, Jack," Ianto stated.

Jack pressed their lips together gently and softly begged for entrance. Ianto gave it to him.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto opened the door to Jason's house and was greeted with the sound of a laughing toddler. It made him smile. Ruby was his hope for the future and he loved her. He found her in the living room playing with Iden. She had grown so much in the last five months he hardly recognized her.

Something was different about his older-self and it took him a moment to realize that his scar was gone.

"How is that possible?" Ianto asked.

Iden looked up. "Adrian is really good with make-up," he grinned then stood up. "Got rid of this tattoo back here too." he explained pointing to his back.

"What tattoo?"

"Anyway," Iden continued avoiding the question. "We used some of the tech we got from Torchwood London and it made the make-up permanent, well not permanent, but it won't fade for three days. I like my scar and my tattoo wouldn't want to get rid of them. It's pretty cool. Even if I get it wet or scrub it won't budge. Ah technology…"

Ianto narrowed his eyes in confusion. One day he was going to be this confusing. Rambling about nothing and never getting to the point. It reminded him of Jack in a way.

"Okay, why?" Ianto asked when it seemed Iden wasn't going to explain anymore on his own.

"Well, I can't go into Torchwood with a scar and tattoo. Jack would know something was up right away," Iden teased picking Ruby up. "Daddy wasn't always bright Ruby."

"What?" Ianto was beyond confused now.

"I'm going to Torchwood for the next two days. You're staying here, spending time with Ruby and fixing things with Jason," Iden explained finally getting to the point.

Ianto groaned. "But… Jack just got back."

"Yep, and I have been without him longer than you so I win," Iden jested handing Ruby to Ianto and heading out of the living room.

"I don't like this," Ianto called after himself before following him.

"Look at it this way, in your future you will have these days to look forward to."

Ianto could see Iden's point. Iden smiled than began to head to the front door. He grabbed the car keys Ianto had deposited there.

"Wait, are you leaving now?"

"Would you want to wait a second longer than necessary?"

Ianto saw Iden's point again.

Iden made a face as if he was trying to remember something. Then walked over to Ianto and took the man's wallet out of his pants before replacing it with his own.

"So I lose my sense of personal space," Ianto observed.

"Make sure she's in bed by eight. Jason doesn't know you're here," Iden stated not acknowledging Ianto's comment. He then quickly made his way out the door leaving Ianto standing there with an open mouth.

Dammit. He had wanted to discuss John Hart.

TW-TW-TW

"So what do you want to eat princess?" Ianto asked his daughter.

"Biscuit." she answered.

"No. I don't think that would be good," Ianto smiled down at her as he opened the fridge. There was an assortment of paper bags inside. Each labeled with a different meal. Ianto laughed. It seemed he wouldn't lose his sense of organization.

"Look Ruby. Daddy already pre-made your food for you," Ianto grinned down at the little girl. He grabbed one of the bags labeled dinner and opened it.

It had an assortment of foods all in small baggies. Small crackers, cut up grapes, cut up sweet snap-peas, cheddar cheese cubes, and ham cubes. Ianto got a plastic plate out of one of the cabinets and placed the food on to it.

"Alright Ruby, let's get in your chair," Ianto smiled down at the blue eyed child before picking her up and snapping her into her highchair. "You don't still throw your food do you?" he teased connecting the tray to the chair before grabbing the plate of food off the counter and putting it in front of the toddler.

Ruby tilted the plate and poured all the food onto the highchair's tray. "Hey," Ianto chastised. She looked up at him and slowly dropped the now empty plate over the side of the high chair then began to eat the food on her tray.

"Don't like plates do we?" Ianto deadpanned bending over and retrieving the plate off the floor and putting it into the dishwasher.

"How long are you staying Iden?" Jason's voice came from the entry to the kitchen. Ianto turned around and looked at his guardian.

"Hey," Ianto murmured sheepishly. Jason took a step back when he realized it was Ianto standing in his Kitchen and not Iden.

"Where's Iden?" Jason demanded.

"At Torchwood, just for a couple of days."

"How?"

"Adrian and Iden have gone behind our backs and cooked up a scheme to have us work out our issues. Apparently, Adrian is good with make-up, which you know, what French prostitute isn't," Ianto snipped.

Jason walked into the room forcing Ianto against the fridge. "Do I insult Jack?"

"Yes, all the time." Ianto growled.

"Hey!" Adrian's voice rang. Jason pulled away from Ianto and they both looked towards where Adrian was now standing by Ruby. "There's a child in this room. Go fight it out somewhere else."

"Fine," Jason stated grabbing Ianto's wrist and pulling him towards the laundry room.

"No, not in there!" Ianto snarled pulling in the opposite direction.

"Fine, you big baby," Jason growled turning and pulling Ianto towards hall.

Jason didn't let go of Ianto's wrist until they reached the living room. Ianto went to the other side of the room as far away from Jason as possible.

"Okay, if we're going to work out our issues then rule number one. Stop manhandling me!" Ianto spat.

"Fine, rule number two. Stop being mean to Adrian!" Jason snapped.

"He's mean to me it's not the other way around! He hates me."

"You do understand how absolutely ridiculous that notion is don't you? How could he hate the man that gave him hope? The man that protects him and stands up for him!" Jason growled.

"I haven't done any of that yet!"

"But he's already been through it. How do you think it makes him feel when you're a total bastard to him! Probably how you felt the day your father came here."

Ianto bit his lip and looked away from Jason. God he hated it when the man was right.

"I don't think you understand. How Iden is everything to me, to Adrian, to Tink. He trained us all. He helped us adjust. Our leader. So imagine how difficult it is for all of us to look at you and have to teach you things you taught us! Imagine how hard it is to realize that you never loved me!" Jason explained loudly his voice cracking at the end.

Ianto turned to see tears on his guardian's face. Ianto walked over to him and pulled him into a hug. "You know I love you, Jace." he whispered. Jason sobbed on his shoulder. "How could I not. You've always been there for me. Sacrificed for me, you're my best friend. I would have ended up a homeless teenager in the streets of London without you. I never would have learned respect or how to properly iron a shirt."

Jason let out a small laugh. "You were rubbish at ironing."

"Oi, what sixteen year old knows how to iron."

Jason pulled away with a sigh. "I'm sorry Ianto. Let's just forget it, yeah. How about I buy you a new suit or something?"

"We can forget about the fight, but no new suit."

Jason nodded. "You know I won't be able to follow the no manhandling rule."

Ianto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know."

TW-TW-TW

Ianto smiled at Ruby's sleeping form. He had put her in her toddler bed at least five times and every time she found her way back to his room. So he had given up and allowed the toddler to sleep on his bed.

The sound of his mobile ringing pulled him away from his watch over Ruby. He begrudgingly got off the bed and took his phone outside the room so he wouldn't wake his sleeping princess.

"Hello," Ianto answered. He was having a bit on an identity crisis at the moment so he didn't use his usual Ianto Jones greeting.

"Oh, I knew it," Tosh's voice whispered.

"Knew what?" Ianto replied faking innocence.

"Don't play dumb with me. I am staring at you right now and you're flirting with Jack. And when I say flirting I mean you are very close to blowing you're cover."

"Well god knows how long it's been since Iden has seen Jack. Just tell him to back down a bit," Ianto sighed.

"Yeah, he's playing dumb to."

"What is he doing right now?"

"In Jack's office. I think they're discussing interrogation techniques. Or having sex. Not too sure."

"hmm, be a pal and go interrupt that. Give him a good whack on the head to." Ianto suggested. The sound of Ruby whining made Ianto stop worrying about how he was going to have to retrain Jack after Iden spoiled him.

"Tosh, I gotta go. Don't let him spoil Jack too bad." Ianto rushed then hung up the phone.

"Da," Ruby cried when Ianto walked back into the room.

"I'm here baby," Ianto whispered pulling her into his arms. "Wanna go watch some cartoons and eat tons of candy?"

TW-TW-TW

Ianto peeked into the kitchen and saw Adrian making a shake. It was morning and Ruby was still passed out. Ianto gently knocked on the entry to get Adrian's attention.

"Good morning," Adrian whispered looking back at Ianto.

"Yeah, how are you?" Ianto tried.

Adrian shrugged.

Ianto walked the rest of the way into the room.

"Adrian, I'm sorry. It was childish of me to be jealous of what you have with Jason. It's just hard for me to think of him with someone else. As selfish as that is."

"It's okay. I really love him though. You know that."

Ianto nodded, "In a way that I never could."

"Iden's my best friend you know."

"I didn't know that."

"He's more than that though. He's like my brother, father, and teacher all rolled into one. So the day that I met you and you…" Adrian's voice cracked and he looked back at the blender.

"Made you feel like your best mate was betraying you?" Ianto whispered.

Adrian nodded and took a deep breath. "It's not like I don't know about what went on between you and Jason, or what will go on in your future. It's just seeing it happen was… well, painful."

"I'm sorry."

Adrian turned around. "You didn't know. I know I should've been angry with Jason and not you. It's just I expect things like that from Jason. I've come to terms with it, because I understand the reasons behind his commitment issues. But you've always been perfect in my eyes, and that day it was like I learned that Captain Comet didn't really have a telekinetic shield."

"Captain what?"

"Oh, for crying out loud. It was like finding out Superman couldn't fly."

Ianto sighed. "Nobody's perfect. Everyone does stupid things. It's a part of being human."

Adrian nodded. "Yeah, I know."

"So are we friends now?"

"I guess." He smiled. "Would you make some coffee?"

"What are friend's for?" Ianto grinned walking over to the coffee machine and turning it on.

TW-TW-TW

"The phones aren't working," Jason grunted walking in to the media room where Adrian and Ianto were coloring with Ruby.

"Iden said they wouldn't be," Adrian pointed out getting up off the floor and siting down on the loveseat.

"Yeah, well sometimes he just says things to mess with me," Jason explained sitting down next to Adrian and attempting to use his phone again.

"One time, he did that, just the once."

"I lost nearly eight hundred quid over that bloody rugby match," Jason grumbled tossing his mobile onto a side table.

"He told you not to gamble. Warned you in fact. You didn't listen."

"He knows I don't listen."

Ianto felt odd listening to a conversation about his future self and Jason as he colored a castle with his future daughter.

"Why are the phones out?" he asked the two men.

"Some kind of alien invasion," Adrian answered with a yawn.

"Oh, well if that's all," Ianto deadpanned rolling his eyes.

He got up off the floor and picked Ruby up. "Should we maybe do something about it?"

"Torchwood's got it cover," Jason grinned casually playing with Adrian's hair. "You know, that isn't the only time he has lied to me. Or did you forget about the moon landing."

"Jason that was real," Adrian sighed.

"Yeah, I know, but the bit about the aliens wasn't."

"Yes it was."

Jason shook his head. "Prove it."

"You know I can't."

"Okay, kiss me instead," Jason demanded.

Ianto took that as his cue to find another area of the home to occupy.

TW-TW-TW

"I have defeated the alien threat as I said I would!" Iden's call rang through the intercom system of the mansion.

"I don't believe you." Jason's voice came.

"Jack defeated the aliens then, go on and ruin my victory, why don't you," Iden sighed.

Ianto wondered if they talked like this often, apparently too lazy to find each other.

"Just calling it like I see it sir," Jason chimed.

Jason calling Iden sir was by far the oddest moment of the day in Ianto's book.

"Oh we're back to sir now, good, not that I wasn't enjoying your colorful vocabulary. I guess that means you and little me made up. I knew that would happen." Iden's exclaimed. Ianto didn't appreciate being called little me.

"You're annoying sometimes, do you know that?" Jason mumbled.

Ianto made his was down to the living room with Ruby in tow because that's where he could sense himself.

"There's daddy's little warrior!" Iden yelled. Ianto put Ruby down and she ran to the older version of her father. He picked her up and hugged her tight in his arms.

"You know, you're going to regret making Tosh interrupt things," Iden said looking at Ianto.

"I have rules set, no umm… play time when the others are around, I'm gonna have to retrain him. He'll try and get away with murder now." Ianto pouted.

Iden just grinned. "How about you go find Uncle Jason," Iden suggested to his daughter. He sat her back on the ground and she toddled away. "Jason, Ruby is coming to find you," Iden said into the intercom.

"Umm… can I ask you something before you debrief me about the last two days?" Ianto questioned.

Iden nodded.

"John Hart?"

"Is a liar. But sometimes he tells the truth. Mostly he lies. But there are a few occasions when he doesn't." Iden rambled.

"In other words you're not going to confirm or deny his suggestion that the two of you had sex."

"Next time he comes, when it's all said and done, don't let him leave. I want him in one of Jason's cells, got it." Iden said avoiding Ianto's comment altogether.

"Yes, sir." Ianto replied rolling his eyes.

"Good. Now let's discuss one more thing before we talk about the latest alien invasion. Gwen is going to go to Paris with Rhys soon. The day before she is due back I want to see you here, as well as Tosh and Owen."

"What? Owen can't know, he'll want to test and… no I refuse."

"You can't refuse," Iden said suddenly serious. "You will bring them both here that day or I will come get them myself. Understand."

"Do I get to know why?"

"Nope."

"Well if Gwen's not home then that will leave Jack all alone to man the hub."

"I'm sure he can handle it. Plus, it won't take long and you will all be back at the hub safe and sound."

TW-TW-TW

"So you and Jason are friends again," Jack asked taking a bite of the pizza Ianto had given him.

"It seems so," Ianto replied.

"That's good," Jack said his mouth full of food. Ianto couldn't help the small smile that came to his face. "What?"

"Nothing," Ianto grinned.

"You're a terrible liar."

Ianto rolled his eyes. He was an excellent liar, when he had to be. "You're adorable sometimes."

"I'm not. I'm dashing and charming." Jack pouted.

"Oh okay," Ianto grinned.

"I'm about to show you adorable," Jack growled.

"Promises, promises."


	43. Chapter 43

AN: I have a new beta. Taamar thank you for helping me. My grammar isn't the greatest. I like to think I am improving though. Anyway the last part was for her. (and me too)

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

Rating: R MA

Warning: Smut, and Masturbation.

Spoilers: To the Last Man.

"Who is he?" Gwen asked.

"Thomas Reginald Brockless," Jack answered.

"Tommy," Ianto chimed.

"Twenty-four years old," Jack continued.

"Sort of," Ianto put in.

The three of them were in Jack's office looking over Tommy's file. Today was the day they would unfreeze the frozen solider from 1918.

"Well, he's either twenty-four or he's not," Gwen smiled looking at Ianto. They had been getting along better lately. Jack had been back for a little over a month, and the whole team seemed to be in better spirits.

"Depends on how you work it out," Ianto explained.

"Okay, when was he born," Gwen asked.

"1894," Jack replied.

The look on Gwen's face was priceless.

"Owen, you ready?" Jack called walking out of the office Ianto and Gwen followed him.

"Yeah, nearly." Owen answered coming out of the med bay and spotting Tosh. "Is that a dress, Tosh?"

"I do believe it is, Owen," Tosh replied. Ianto couldn't help but smile at his best friend. It was a known fact that she had a crush on Tommy.

"Well, where is he?" Gwen chimed with excitement.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto was thinking a lot about death lately. Looking at pictures of team Torchwood from 1918 with Gwen wasn't helping.

"He's a bit of alright," Gwen grinned pointing at the leader.

"He's the boss," Ianto informed her.

"Nothing changes," She grinned up at him. Ianto couldn't help but grin back. The current boss was pretty alright.

"She's alright too. Harriet Derbyshire," Ianto said pointing at the girl beside the man.

"Wonder what happened to her?" Gwen mused. Ianto decided he was the only one on the team who cared enough about history to read the employee files.

"She died a year after that was taken. Twenty-six years old." Ianto explained. _Would he make it to twenty-six?_ he wondered.

"So young."

"They all were," Ianto said picking up the picture and examining it closer. "Nothing changes."

Gwen got up out of the chair she was sitting in and began to head out of the hub.

"Where are you going?" Ianto called after her.

"St. Teilo's hospital. And bloody cheer up will ya." She called back.

Easy for her to say, she didn't wake up every morning and look in the mirror wondering if today she would die. Well maybe she did, but he knew he would and soon. His reflection looked more like Iden then Ianto nowadays and that frightened the shit out of him.

"Are you not cheerful?" Jack asked coming out of the med bay.

Ianto shook his head.

"You know what always cheers me up?"

Ianto didn't think he wanted to know.

"An afternoon blow-job," Jack exclaimed when it was obvious Ianto wasn't going to ask.

Ianto grinned. "Ahh… and is this where you explain that giving is better than receiving?"

Jack nodded.

"Your jokes never fail to cheer me up sir," Ianto grinned walking past his boss and heading to the archives.

"Who says I was joking?" Jack called.

Ianto continued to walk away and grinned bigger when he realized that Jack was following him. Jack pressed him against a wall as soon as they were in the archives.

"Jack," Ianto moaned as the man undid his trousers and then sank to his knees.

Ianto gripped Jack's hair and bit his lip to keep from crying out. His rules didn't seem to matter anymore, but he still didn't want Owen to hear him while he was in the moment.

As Ianto's release hit him he realized that Jack was right, afternoon blow-jobs did bring cheer.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto pulled the box with Tommy's belongings in it off a tall shelf in the archives. The instructions for why the world needed Tommy Brockless had opened, and the man would be traveling back in time tomorrow morning.

As Ianto walked to the conference room he wondered what Iden had done in 1918. Would he fight in the war to end all wars? He thought about all the terrible and wonderful things he had learned about in history books that he was going to experience firsthand. Wars and development, he was going to experience it all. He couldn't help but be a little excited about that; frightened beyond belief, but excited.

"Tommy, stay with Ianto. Tosh, with me," Jack's voice commanded as Ianto entered the conference room.

Ianto watched as the others left the room and set the box he was holding on the table.

"We kept these in the archives. You were wearing them in the hospital when Torchwood took you," Ianto explained opening the box.

"Good job the moths haven't got into them," Tommy said lightheartedly as he picked up the garments. "So I'll be saving the world in some pajamas. How daft is that?"

"It's gotta be more comfortable than a leotard," Ianto teased.

"Suppose," Tommy sighed then looked up at Ianto. "You have any relatives that served in the war?"

"I'm not sure, could be," Ianto mused.

"There was a bloke in my troop, looked just like you."

"Yeah, was he nice?" Ianto asked.

Tommy nodded. "Saved my arse more than once."

TW-TW-TW

It was hard for Ianto to hear about his future. People usually had nice things to say. He understood that he would save Tink, Jason, and Adrian. He would father Ruby and love Aria. He would lead the entire population of Rift Children. These are things he could believe because he had seen it. Tommy's story seemed more fictional.

According to Tommy he would save him more than once. It was an actual act of bravery. He hoped he would live up to it.

"This time tomorrow he'll be back in 1918," Jack mused from his desk as Ianto walked up behind him.

"In his own time. Would you go back to yours if you could?" Ianto asked.

"Why would you miss me?" Jack teased.

"Yep."

"I left home a long time ago. I don't really know where I really belong." Jack explained.

_With me_, Ianto thought.

"Maybe that doesn't really matter anymore," Jack continued.

Ianto sat on the side of the desk. "I know you get lonely," he whispered looking at his lover's face and knowing how lonely he was going to be without the man.

"Going home wouldn't fix that. Being here I've seen things I never dreamt I'd see. Loved people I never would have known if I'd just stayed where I was."

Ianto stared at Jack and felt like the man was giving him advice for his own future, even if he didn't know it.

"And I wouldn't change that for the world," Jack finished.

Ianto bent forward and captured Jack's lips, kissing him with everything he had. He knew that his time with the man was limited, and he didn't want to waste another second. He wanted to spend the rest of his first life kissing Jack. He wanted to commit every inch of the man to memory.

He pulled away and stared at Jack's face. His blue eyes, chiseled chin, and his oh so kissable lips. He had to hold back tears. How would he survive so long without kissing those lips? Three months had been unbearable.

"How do you survive, Jack?" Ianto whispered.

"I have no choice," Jack replied.

"Mentally, I mean."

"I live," Jack said, kissing Ianto tenderly.

Ianto deepened the kiss again and sat on Jack's lap, "I need you now," he moaned against Jack's lips.

Jack rose out of his seat bringing Ianto with him and pushed the Welshman up against his desk, attacking his neck and undoing his shirt as he went.

"You're about to have me," Jack whispered.

As if by magic, Ianto found himself in Jack's bunker, handcuffed to the bed with Jack's body moving on top of him. Ianto kept his eyes open and tried to memorize every inch of Jack's chest and stomach. He kept his eyes glued on Jack's face as the older man came, if he ever forgot that look he hoped he'd finally just die.

"This is one of those moments, Jack," Ianto whispered as they both attempted to catch their breath.

"Oh yeah," Jack replied resting his head on Ianto's chest.

TW-TW-TW

"That's kinda sweet," Tosh smiled her eyes were red with tears. Ianto had come to her flat to try and cheer her up.

"How?" Ianto asked rolling his eyes.

"He lives, Ianto. Those are amazing words. He means he doesn't just sit around and exist, he lives."

Ianto nodded. "It's going to be hard."

"Well at least you know you will survive, that you'll make it through with your mind intact."

"I'm not too sure about that," Ianto laughed, "Iden can be a bit crazy at times."

"So can Ianto," Tosh teased.

Ianto glared at her momentarily. "Watch it or you'll be on decaf."

Tosh shoved his shoulder gently. "You know it's said with love."

Ianto grinned and shook his head.

"I haven't had a chance to tell you, but I am going to get to see Tommy again. I'm going to fight next to him in the war."

Tosh's face turned serious, "Really?"

Ianto nodded.

"Maybe you can save him, prevent them from executing him," she sounded desperate.

"I don't think I can Tosh."

"You've got to try," she yelled.

Ianto put up his hands, "I will try, but no promises."

"Give me your phone," she said reaching out her hand.

"What?"

"I'm going to call Iden. I have to know if you succeed."

Ianto handed over his phone and it rang before Tosh could search for the number. Tosh answered it.

"Really," she exclaimed pulling Ianto into a hug. "I knew you could do it," she whimpered.

"Good news, then?" Ianto asked when Tosh closed his phone. She nodded against his shoulder. He patted her back awkwardly. "Good."

Ianto's phone rang the moment he made it into his car after leaving Tosh's flat.

"Sometimes we have to lie," his own voice came. Ianto closed his eyes and tried to hold back tears. "She doesn't need to think he died the way he did."

"Yeah," Ianto sobbed out.

"It's nice for her to think he lived on happily, that he married and had children. It will help her move past him."

"I understand," Ianto whispered.

"I wish I could've saved him."

"Me too."

TW-TW-TW

"How's she holding up?" Jack asked from the bed as Ianto began to get undressed.

"As well as could be expected," Ianto whispered not really wanting to talk about it.

"You don't seem to be," Jack observed getting out of the bed and pulling the Welshman into his arms. Ianto let all the tears he had been holding in out.

"I wish I could've saved him for her," He whimpered.

"Me too, Ianto," Jack cooed.

"I…" he wanted to tell Jack he loved him but he caught himself. He didn't want to push Jack to say the words he knew that would just hurt them both.

"Yeah," Jack said kissing Ianto's head, "I know."

Ianto fell asleep in Jack's arms thinking about Iden and all the things his older self had said to him.

TW-TW-TW

_Ianto was making coffee, he couldn't remember why he was making it, but he was._

_"Hey," said his own voice behind him. Ianto turned to see Iden standing next to him. It didn't make any sense, they were in the hub. Jack would see them together, and then he would know. Ianto was suddenly scared of being locked into a vault._

_"There's my two favorite guys," Jack's voice came he was climbing the stairs and pulling Iden into a kiss. Ianto felt a pang of jealousy and then laughed out loud. Who gets jealous of themselves? _

_"Did you want a kiss as well?" Iden asked pulling Ianto in for one. Well the weirdness factor just went up by about one hundred percent. Ianto felt his own hand travel to his side. Suddenly he realized he was naked and, just as suddenly, he didn't care as he pulled Iden's body closer._

_Jack was behind him now, his hands traveling down Ianto's sides then between him and Iden to grip the identical members there. _

"Oh god," Ianto screamed out.

"What's wrong, was it a nightmare?" Jack asked franticly his hand caressing Ianto's face.

Ianto realized he was in his own bed sleeping next to Jack. It had been a dream.

Ianto grabbed one of Jack's hands and placed it over his crotch. "No it wasn't a nightmare."


	44. Chapter 44

AN: Taamar you are so wonderful! She not only helped with my grammar, but also helped with the writing. Love it. She is super awesome. I would also like to thank everyone for their positive comments. You guys rock!

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

Rating: R

Spoilers: Meat, audio book 'In the Shadows'

Warnings: Implied smut.

Ianto stared down with wide eyes at the man he had just stunned. He was pretty sure a stun to the head could've killed the bloke, but he wasn't sorry. It was because of this man and his brother that Ianto's friends were in danger, not to mention the whole _torturing an innocent alien_ thing.

"Ianto, it's over," Jack's voice said through the comms.

"On my way, Sir," Ianto whispered. Ianto made his way back to the warehouse slowly, wondering if Jack would be upset with him for stunning the idiot in the head. Most likely not, he figured. Knowing Jack, he'd be proud.

Jack pulled Ianto into his arms as soon as the younger man entered the warehouse. "I thought I was going to lose you," He whispered. Ianto glanced around, but the others were deliberately avoiding noticing the exchange.

"Well, you didn't," he breathed into Jack's neck.

"I will," Jack whimpered.

"Keep it together, Captain. Work to do still."

Jack pulled away and nodded.

TW-TW-TW

"Do you love us both?" Ianto growled, walking into Jack's office to find the man spying on Gwen and Rhys. He had watched silently as Gwen refused to retcon her fiancé, unwilling to challenge his employer in front of the rest of the team, but now, in private, he had to know.

Jack looked at Ianto with pure horror. Ianto resisted the urge to roll his eyes; he had said the dreaded L-word, and he knew it made Jack nervous.

"Do you _want_ us both?" Ianto revised.

"Do you want the truth?" Jack asked quietly, looking away.

"It would help."

"I want what she has."

"Rhys?"

Jack laughed. "No, Normality."

"Oh."

"When I said I liked Welsh accents I meant I liked_ your_ Welsh accent." Jack grinned.

"Oh."

"I've messed up some big speech you had prepared, didn't I?"

"Sort of, yeah. It was really good, too," Ianto sighed leaning against Jack's desk, "I practiced and everything."

"You can go ahead and do it, I don't mind," Jack suggested, leaning back as if to watch the show.

"No, it wouldn't mean as much now."

Jack grabbed Ianto's hand and kissed it gently.

"We could pretend at normality, if you want. It could be like role playing, yeah?" Ianto tried.

"Role playing! Let's do it!" Jack exclaimed. He stood up and clapped his hands together, rubbing them excitedly. _Like a child_, Ianto thought.

"Okay, we could go to my flat. Make a meal, do a crossword and then maybe, if we aren't too tired from all of that, we can try some vanilla sex. Just like Gwen."

Jack sat back down, his eager grin fading. "Normal sounds over rated."

Ianto smirked.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto loved hot showers. He was sated, achy, and perhaps a little bruised, and he moaned quietly as the heat of the water eased his exhausted body. He and Jack had eaten takeaway, played naked hide and seek, then had sex in ways that were so innovative they bordered on avant-garde. That was their normal, and Ianto didn't want it any other way.

Ianto's heard his phone ring and smiled when he heard Jack answer it. It didn't matter how many times he told the man not to answer his phone, he still did it.

"Jack," Ianto called, turning off the shower and grabbing a towel as Jack walked into the bathroom with the phone held away from him.

"It's Jason," Jack grinned. "He wasn't happy I answered."

"Are you sure it wasn't how you answered that bothered him?" Ianto smiled.

Jack just shrugged with a grin and left the room.

"Hey," Ianto laughed into the phone.

"I don't see how you can stand that man." Jason spat.

"What did he do?"

"He answered the phone 'Ianto's pants' and then when I asked to speak to you he said you were otherwise occupied."

"That's what he said?"

"I'm paraphrasing."

"I love how you pretend to be all decent," Ianto teased, "You're just as dirty as he is, and you know it."

"It's cute when I do it. When he does it it's irritating as fuck."

"Ahh…" Ianto replied rolling his eyes.

"Anyway, Iden's going to be coming into town next week. He wants you to bring Tosh and Owen here on Sunday."

"I know. Listen, do you know why? He's being… reticent. More than usual, I mean."

"Sure I do, Iden tells me everything," Jason deadpanned, and Ianto heard Adrian's laughter in the background.

"No need to be a bastard," Ianto grumbled and ended the call.

TW-TW-TW

"How long do you think you were there?" Ianto whispered to his lover, gently wiping a stray tear from his face. It had only been two days since the space manatee incident and the team had already been through Hell again. Jack had literally been through Hell, and Ianto had saved him from it. He would never look at a matchbox the same way again.

"I don't know," Jack sighed, "It was intense. The pretend you said some awful things."

"Like what?"

Jack shook his head, mentally pushing the experience aside. "You saved me that's what matters. It was like you were my angel. You _are_ my angel." New tears started to fall.

"Shh…" Ianto cooed bending down to kiss Jack's head.

"Ianto, when I left with the Doctor… I was gone much longer than three months."

Ianto stiffened slightly. Jack hadn't told him anything about his time away, though Ianto could tell it had been traumatic.

"How long?"

"About a year, a little more maybe."

"Where were you?"

Jack recounted a near-epic story of time lords and paradoxes, of madness and torture, and of the triumph of the Doctor. Ianto had heard of the Doctor and he knew that Jack had traveled with him, but hearing Jack talk about him was much better. It made the Doctor seem like a super hero, or an alien version of James Bond.

"So the Master, he would just kill you for the fun of it?" Ianto asked when Jack reached the end of his tale. "Over and over? Just because?"

Jack nodded.

"And you just thought you should carry that burden alone?"

"You don't need my nightmares."

"Don't tell me what I need, I can't fight them for you if keep it all from me," Ianto whispered fiercely.

"You're my hero," Jack smiled softly, caressing Ianto's cheek with his thumb.

Ianto sighed. Jack was so protective of his inner self, and Ianto felt like he was only brushing the surface.

"The Master drugged me as well, made me hallucinate. It was weird, though, because he could see you too. He would… harm you and you would heal, almost like I can." Jack continued. "It seemed so real."

It took all of Ianto's self-discipline to remain relaxed in Jack's arms.

"I looked for you, you know, after we took out the paradox machine. I searched the ship twice. I was so sure you were real. Then I learned that quite a few people had escaped off the ship right after time reversed. So when I came back I assumed you would remember. You didn't, though. It had all been a game of the Master's."

"Jack, I'm-" Ianto began but was interrupted by his phone. He grabbed it off the night stand and looked at the caller ID. It was Iden. "I have to take this," he muttered getting up and walking to the loo.

"Don't," Iden's voice demanded.

"Why?" Ianto said biting his lip.

"Remember what happened last time?"

"It could be different."

"Do you really believe that?"

Ianto snapped the phone shut and resisted the urge to throw it against the wall. He walked back into the bedroom and lay back down next to Jack.

"Who was it?" Jack whispered pulling him into a spooning position.

"My sister," Ianto lied.

"I'm glad it wasn't real, Ianto," Jack murmured sleepily, going back to their previous conversation "I can't bear to think of you being hurt like I was."

Ianto bit his lip. He wished it wasn't real.

TW-TW-TW

"What are you doing here Tea-boy? Jack gave us the day off." Owen growled when he answered the door to his flat early Sunday morning.

"I was wondering if you wanted to take a Sunday drive with me?"

Owen raised his eyebrows. "You've lost it."

"Yeah, didn't think that would work," Ianto mused, pulling out his stun gun and discharging it into Owen's stomach.

The doctor's light and wiry build made him easy to carry, and Ianto was grateful. He put the smaller man in his back seat carefully and leaned him gently against the seat as if he had just fallen asleep that way. Ianto closed the door and pulled out his mobile.

"Hey," Ianto said into his phone when Tosh answered. He opened the driver's side door to his car and got in.

"Good morning, I'm all set for our little shopping trip." Tosh answered happily.

"Excellent. I'm on my way to your flat."

"So I was thinking I would get a new jacket. I know I have like a million, but I like them." Tosh chirped happily as she got into the passenger seat and buckled her seat belt. Ianto pulled away from her flat as she chattered on without noticing Owen in the back seat.

She finally saw Owen when she pulled the visor down to check her lip gloss. "Umm… What's Owen doing passed out in the back?" She questioned turning around to look at him.

"No clue," Ianto deadpanned.

"Ianto," Tosh warned.

"I've kidnapped him," Ianto confessed keeping his eyes on the road.

"And me too?"

"Yeah," Ianto whispered.

"May I ask why?"

"Sure."

"Okay, why?"

"Haven't got a clue."

Tosh went for her phone; Ianto was too quick and grabbed it before she could call Jack.

"Ianto Jones, you tell me what this is about now!"

"Bloody hell, Tea-boy," Owen moaned from the back.

"Now you've done it," Ianto teased, "Sleeping beauty is awake."

Tosh leaned back in her seat and took a deep breath. The car was silent for a good five minutes.

"We're going to Jason's?" Tosh mused.

"Yep," Ianto replied.

"I'm sorry, who's Jason?" Owen asked.

"Ianto's guardian," Tosh answered.

"His what now?"

"Doesn't matter," Ianto smiled into the rearview.

"The next time you need a physical I'm _not_ warming my hands," Owen grumbled, rubbing his side.

"I wouldn't have had to stun you if you'd just agreed to the Sunday drive."

Owen scowled and leaned back in his seat. The three companions were silent until they reached Jason's house.

Jason, Adrian, and Iden were all standing in a line outside the home when they arrived.

"What the fuck?" Owen breathed out, staring at Iden.

"That's Ianto in the future," Tosh explained getting out of the car.

"What?" Owen exclaimed still in shock.

Ianto got out of the car and opened the door for Owen. Owen got out and stared at Ianto with his mouth open.

"It's difficult to explain." Ianto whispered.

"Yeah, okay," Owen replied rolling his eyes. "How about you try anyway?"

They walked over to where the three men were standing. Tosh was already there glaring at Iden.

"He won't tell me either," Tosh snapped.

"Hello Owen, long time, no see," Iden said holding out his hand for the doctor to shake and ignoring Toshiko's pouting.

Owen reluctantly shook Iden's hand. "Yeah," he said clearly freaked out.

"Well, let's have a little meeting in the dining room shall we?" Iden announced clapping his hands together.

Everyone followed him into the house, through the halls, and into the dining room.

"Please have a seat," Adrian said sweetly to Tosh, pulling her chair out for her. Iden did the same for Owen, and the two sat. Ianto went to take a seat as well but Jason held him back.

Suddenly Iden and Adrian injected Owen and Tosh with some blue chemical and they both went limp, their heads falling to the table.

"What the hell," Ianto yelled trying to pull away from Jason's grasp. He was sure his friends were dead, their bodies were so still.

"It's okay, Ianto," Jason whispered, and Ianto felt the prick of a needle piercing his skin just before his world went dark.

AN: Mahahaha! Remember to review.


	45. Chapter 45

AN: Look at this, I didn't make you wait long did I. You're all spoiled. Just so you know, I start back to school on Monday. Updates maybe a little farther apart. They will still come though no worries.

I would like to thank my beta. Taamar, she is the cake decorator and I am the baker. Yep, those were her words. She a wonderful decorator.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

Rating: R

Spoilers: Season 2 eps. 5-9

Warnings: Implied smut.

Ianto woke with his head on the table in the Hub's conference room. Tosh and Gwen were starting to stir, and Owen was already sitting up, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck. The last thing Ianto remembered was going to bed on Saturday night, but a glance at his watch told him it was early Tuesday morning.

"Does anyone else feel like they've missed something?" Owen asked, breaking the silence in the room.

"I'm sure I missed something," Gwen snapped, "I was in Paris. And now I'm not."

"I was reading in my bed, that's the last thing I remember," Tosh mused.

"Well, I'm not too upset, I was finished anyway," Owen grinned.

"You're a pig, Owen." Tosh sighed.

Ianto was too caught up in his own thoughts to pay much attention to the others. If it was Tuesday then he must have taken Tosh and Owen to Jason's already, and he didn't remember what had happened. He wondered if Iden was to blame for this. He usually was.

"Where do you suppose Jack is?" Ianto, asked breaking into the conversation. Suddenly that's all that mattered. He got up from the table and made his way to the main Hub, calling for Jack as he went.

"I'm here, Ianto," Jack's call returned.

"We've lost two days." Ianto explained when he found his lover in the corridor on the way to the cells. Suddenly he was upset. He didn't have many days left with Jack, and now he had lost two of them.

"Yeah, I saw," Jack mused, looking at his watch.

Ianto grabbed Jack by the collar and pulled him into a fierce kiss. "What do you think happened?" he asked pulling away from the kiss but not releasing the collar.

Jack was momentarily stunned, and then recovered. "I don't know, but we wouldn't have done it without good reason."

"Ianto," Tosh grinned. "You okay?"

Ianto looked towards his friend's voice. "Yeah, why?"

She raised her eyebrows and looked at Jack. Ianto looked down and realized he was still holding the man's collar.

"Sorry, sir," he said blandly, reverting to his work demeanor, letting go of Jack's collar and straightening it out.

"No problem, I like it rough," Jack grinned. Ianto rolled his eyes.

TW-TW-TW

"What do you think we did?" Owen wondered, reaching for a slice of pizza.

"I vote that we all had a crazy orgy," Jack grinned winking at Ianto.

Ianto was avoiding Jack's gaze. The man had somehow obtained Ianto's diary, and had read it. There was nothing in it about the Rift Children, but it had more about his hopes and fears than he ever wanted his lover to know.

"I vote we didn't," Gwen sighed.

"Yeah, that's something I would want to remember." Jack laughed.

"Ianto, I think you need to have the sexual harassment talk with our leader again," Tosh suggested playfully.

"Nope, someone else's turn." Ianto said taking a bite of his pizza.

"I thought you had fun the last time," Jack teased.

Ianto fought to keep a straight face, remembering the way Jack has treated the harassment lecture as a sexual scene. They had, predictably, ended up naked and laughing, with pages from the employee handbook stuck to their sweaty bodies.

"On second thought, I'll handle it." Ianto said no longer able to hold in the grin.

"Your mobile rings more than Gwen's," Owen teased when Ianto's phone rang.

Ianto rolled his eyes and answered the call while walking away. "Ianto Jones."

"Do you know who I am?" Jason's voice came.

"Which answer would you prefer? Sarcastic or truthful?"

"Oh good, yesterday you told me I was insane when I called you."

"Sounds pretty normal."

"Jones," Jason warned.

Ianto sighed Jason was using his 'I'm serious' tone, and he knew better than to push the other man when he was in_ that _mood.

"You're Jason Sims, my guardian, leader of Cardiff Rift," Ianto answered.

"Oh, I see. That's all I am to you now?" Jason replied, his tone now lighthearted.

Ianto rolled his eyes. "Listen, I'm going to have to come over and debrief you about these last two days because none of us can remember them."

"Two days? You were only supposed to forget Sunday."

"So you're telling me this is your fault?" Ianto hissed into the phone.

"If you want to get technical, it's yours."

"I will be there at midnight!" Ianto growled then hung up the phone.

"Was it your sister again?" Jack smiled when Ianto returned.

Ianto nodded, hating the necessity of the lie. "Where'd the others go?"

"Home, pub, whatever. " Jack shrugged.

"And, of course, they left their mess behind." Ianto started to package up the leftovers and clear the plates. He was aware that Jack was staring at him, so he bent over a little further than necessary when reaching across the table.

"It's rude to stare, sir," he said in a low, suggestive voice.

"I can't help it."

Ianto blushed and looked back at Jack. "You could help clean up this mess, you know."

"I don't see the fun in that," Jack pouted.

"We can't fuck on the table until it's clean."

Ianto had never seen a man fill a bin bag so quickly.

TW-TW-TW

"What happened on Sunday?" Ianto demanded, walking into the kitchen of Jason's house.

He immediately turned his back on the scene in front of him. "I'll be in the living room, when you're finished," he muttered and quickly walked out of the room wondering if he would ever be able to forget the image of Adrian's naked body pressed up against the industrial fridge.

"You could always join," Jason called.

"No, you couldn't," Adrian snapped in irritation, an effect that was lost when he moaned out "Mon Dieu, j'adore!" two seconds later.

Ianto sat on the couch in the living room and waited for the leader of the rift and his second to finish their tryst.

"You know it's proper to call before coming into someone's kitchen at midnight?" Adrian snarled as he walked into the living room pulling a shirt over his shoulders but leaving it unbuttoned. Ianto was pleased to see that he had already put his trousers on.

"I…" Ianto began about to tell Adrian that he had told Jason he would be there, but Jason came up behind Adrian and made a puppy dog face while holding his finger to his lips. Ianto couldn't believe his guardian could be such a child sometimes.

"I'm sorry Adrian," Ianto said, trying to sound remorseful, "I wasn't thinking." Jason owed him for this; Adrian looked mad enough to kill.

Adrian sighed and looked at Ianto with a tired expression, and Ianto wondered if Adrian was seeing him or Iden.

"It's okay, you're forgiven. This time." the Frenchman said finally.

Ianto smiled with relief. "Thank you. Now can we discuss what happened on Sunday?"

"Sure," Adrian agreed.

"Okay, what happened?"

"We can't tell you." Jason announced.

"Why?"

Adrian and Jason shrugged in unison.

"Come on, Jason. You owe me, and I need to know. I have a *right* to know," Ianto demanded, wishing he hadn't had to use his free favor from Jason so quickly.

"Why does he owe you one?" Adrian questioned looking back at Jason who smiled sweetly at him. "Oh." He paused, his smile fading. "He told you he was coming didn't he. You knew he was going to walk in on us!"

"Looks like I don't owe you one anymore," Jason growled.

"What time did you say you were coming over Ianto?" Adrian demanded of Ianto, ignoring Jason altogether.

"Midnight." Ianto said quietly. Adrian seemed to have a temper.

"Midnight!" Adrian yelled then turned to look at Jason. "Midnight!" he yelled again. "You _planned_ that! You wanted him to walk in on us! You know he's never late and never early, he's always on time."

"Iden is always on time. Ianto has been late before and you know it." Jason snapped back, his voice level as usual.

"You wanted him to walk in on us," Adrian repeated his voice low, now, and deadly.

"Of course not, I was caught up in the moment. You know what your body does to me," Jason leered.

That comment only proved to make the fight worse. Ianto sighed and then let himself out of the house, knowing neither of the two would be in a forthcoming mood. So much for finding things out the easy way.

TW-TW-TW

"This sucks," Owen complained, sitting in a chair opposite Ianto's desk in the archives. Ianto still wasn't used to the fact that Owen was dead and talking. "I can't eat, or drink, or fuck. What's the point?"

"You can still verbally abuse your co-workers, I notice. That's got to be worth something." Ianto replied not looking up from his paper work. Owen had been talking to Ianto more ever since the debacle with the coffee machine and the incident at Henry Parker's house, and they were almost friends.

"There's that." Owen paused, then leaned forward, looking at Ianto with a frightening intensity, "You know, sometimes when I close my eyes I would swear I hear my heart beating. Its wishful thinking, I know. You never think you'll miss something as simple as a heartbeat, but I do."

"Really?" Ianto asked looking up at Owen.

"Yeah, that little thump that tells you your blood is flowing. Ahh, I miss it."

"I'm sorry," Ianto replied turning his attention back to his papers, a tiny suspicion staring to form in the back of his mind.

"Sometimes, though, if I'm real quiet and still, I can almost hear a small beeping sound. Like you would hear if you were attached to a medical monitor; beep… beep…beep… right at the edge of my awareness."

"hmm, interesting," Ianto mused to himself.

"How?"

"What?"

"How's it interesting?" Owen pressed.

Ianto shrugged. "Just is."

"I miss my hand, too," Owen sighed, looking at his bandaged appendage.

"When's Tosh coming back," Ianto asked, changing the subject.

"Not enjoying my company?"

"No I…"

"She went for lunch, not sure where. She thinks it's rude to eat around me now. She's something, that one."

Ianto smiled wistfully. _Took the bastard long enough to notice. And now it's too late. _

TW-TW-TW

This time Ianto didn't tell Jason he was coming to the house. In fact, he went to the house at three pm, a time Ianto knew Jason would be teaching a class. He wasn't sure of Adrian's whereabouts, but he was sure the Frenchman had other places to be during the day.

Ianto used his key to open the front door and silently made his way through the hallway, to the kitchen, and into the laundry room. He stared at the door to the basement. He didn't know why he was taking this risk; chances were Owen was just mental, stress of being dead and all, but Ianto was never one to leave things to chance.

He typed his code into the keypad by the door and grumbled in frustration when it returned an error. Why would his code no longer work? It's not like it would keep him from opening the door. Just delay him a bit.

_A bit_ turned out to be fifteen minutes. He traveled down the stairs and began to search the expansive space. He gasped in shock when he entered the last room, his earlier suspicion proven true. Tosh and Owen's bodies were there lying side by side on medical beds. They were hooked up to monitors, and there was a soft beeping sound in the room.

Clones. It was something straight out of a science fiction novel. The irony of his surprise was not lost on the Rift Child with an immortal lover.

"These are the real ones. The ones working beside you are the fakes."

Ianto whirled around to see Iden, who had arrived silently.

"What have you done?" Ianto demanded, "Do you think you're God? That you can just control who lives and dies?"

"They deserve a chance at normal."

Ianto let out a ragged sigh. "I can't believe this." he walked over to Tosh's body and held her hand. "How is she going to go?"

"It doesn't matter how, when she does she'll wake up safely here."

"And Owen? He's already dead, how will it work for him?"

"When he finally goes he will wake up here as well. I had to do this Ianto. I have to save them, and this is the only way."

Ianto looked back at Iden and saw that Jason and Adrian were behind him. The three made their way into the room and lined up calmly against the wall. He looked back at the inert form of his dear friend. She looked helpless, and suddenly he could no longer keep his anger hidden.

"And why couldn't I be told!" he yelled. "Why did I have to find out like this!" he gestured to his friends.

"It was a test of your resourcefulness." Iden answered calmly taking a step away from the wall."And your trust. "

Ianto punched his older self in the face."How's that for resourcefulness!"

Ianto looked past Iden and saw Jason's glare. _Oh fuck,_ he thought as he ran out of the room, trying in vain to get out of the house before Jason caught him to administer the retribution he knew he had earned. He didn't even make it to the stairwell. Jason didn't say a word, he just pulled Ianto along the corridor and tossed him into a cell, closing the door and locking it.

Ianto huddled in the corner of the barren cell, wondering how he'd had the nerve to hit the Minister of the Rift. It was like slapping the Queen. Utterly unthinkable.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto's phone rang at five that evening. He had been in the cell for nearly two hours, alone, left with his only his thoughts. It was Jack.

"Ianto Jones," He answered the mobile.

"Are you okay, Ianto? You never came back from lunch. It's considered good form to let your boss know when you leave. "

"I needed a personal day sir. I should have called."

"That's okay, it's your first offense, I'll go easy on you," Jack teased.

"Thank you, sir."

"Oh, I got a package from Martha Jones."

"Is it a red cap?"

"Yep."

"I sense my punishment will be to wear it?"

"Wouldn't call that a punishment. No, for making me worry today you'll be dancing with me at Gwen's wedding."

"I don't dance."

"Lies."

Ianto heard the door to his cell being unlocked.

"I have to go, sir. I'll see you later?"

"Of course."

Ianto ended the call just as Jason pulled the door open. Ianto rushed to the corner of the room.

"You're lucky I can't leave bruises on you," Jason growled as he entered the cell.

"Am I?" Ianto replied evenly. Jason slapped him hard across the face.

"What the fuck were you thinking?"

"I was thinking my friends had been kidnapped, drugged, and locked in a basement by someone who should have told me what was going on," Ianto shouted, "Did you think I was too stupid to figure it out? Or that I couldn't be trusted?"

"Trust? You don't get to question _our_ trust, you're the one who broke in!" Jason spat. "He is saving his friends, your friends, and you're pissed off because you weren't in the loop? Do you realize how childish that is?"

"Fuck you," Ianto whispered, looking away. Jason took a step closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Ianto closed his eyes.

"If you were anyone else you would have been relocated. You understand that, right?"

Ianto nodded. His body was starting to shake, though he was unsure if it was from fear or the aftermath of anger. Jason's hand was very close to a pressure point, and Ianto knew they didn't leave bruises. Not the way Jason used them. He knew from long experience just how badly Jason could hurt him without leaving a mark.

"Go, and don't come back until you are told to," Jason whispered, pulling his hand away. Ianto opened his eyes and saw a look of disappointment on his guardian's face. He would have preferred the bruises.


	46. Chapter 46

AN: I am in love with this chapter. I would like to thank Taamar my excellent embellisher. This chapter wouldn't be nearly this good without her input. So, this chapter is a bit of a tear jerker I have to admit, and the next one will be too, actually just keep your tissues near for the foreseeable future.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood, or Firefly (there's a tiny reference in there)

Rating: R MA

Warnings: M/M sex. Curse words.

Chapter 46

Ianto trudged despondently up the stairs of Jason's basement. He heard his guardian hit one of the concrete walls in his cell and suspected that Jason had just broken his hand in rage. Ianto tried to hold in his tears; he had disappointed Jason, the man who trained him, just as he had disappointed his father. All his life he had let down the people he cared for. _So many mistakes and regrets, _he thought, remembering his mother with deep remorse. She'd been so lost after his father's death and had numbed her pain with narcotics. Ianto had tried to pretend he didn't see that she was endangering herself, but he now recognized the self-deception. He hadn't gone to help her because he feared losing Jason. His selfish fears had always been his downfall, and everyone else suffered.

This situation wasn't any different, he had rushed in without thinking, had acted without grace, because he selfishly wanted control. He had punched himself, an act he already regretted. _I have no control over anything, _he thought,_ my life, my death, my friends, all outside my control, everything spinning around in a whirlwind just out of reach._ The worst part was knowing that even when he became Iden and seemed to be in control he would be just as powerless. Iden may have known what was going to happen, but he was just a puppet of his memories, forced to make sure it all happened the same way again. Iden had known Ianto was going to hit him, and had stood there without flinching. Ianto felt even worse. He took a deep breath and composed his face as best he could before leaving the laundry room at the top of the basement stairs.

Ianto found Adrian in the kitchen. The man was leaning against the counter trying unsuccessfully to hide the fact that he'd been crying, and for the first time Ianto saw Adrian as a person rather than as an adjunct to Jason.

"Do you want to discuss it?" Ianto asked uncertainly.

"Discuss what?" Adrian sniffled.

"Why you're crying." Ianto replied.

"I'm not," the Frenchman insisted as he turned away to brush the evidence of tears from his cheek.

"I'm supposed to be your best mate in my future, yet here you are lying to me," Ianto said playfully, trying to lighten the mood.

"Allergies," Adrian tried with a bland expression. "Ragweed."

"Of course. Bad year for ragweed," Ianto returned. Both men burst into laughter.

Adrian caught his breath first. "Iden taught me that humor in stressful situations can make it seem less stressful."

"When did he teach you that?"

"We were running from Native Americans. I think they were Cherokee, maybe Comanche. I don't really remember. "

Ianto grinned. "Sounds rather exciting."

"It was the most fun I'd ever had my whole life up until that point."

"I reckon Iden taught you how to change the subject flawlessly as well?"

Adrian nodded. "Caught that did you?"

Ianto nodded, and the Frenchman became serious again.

"If I promise to tell you later, will you go? Before Jason comes back up here and changes his mind about letting you leave?"

Ianto turned to look back at the laundry room door, then back at Adrian. "Yeah," he agreed.

Ianto gave a small wave and exited the kitchen, then walked through the hall and out of the house. He calmly got in the driver's seat of his car. Closing his eyes, he tried to get in the mindset necessary to go back to the hub and act like Tosh and Owen were Tosh and Owen and not clones. _At least they're safe._ He took a deep breath and turned the car on.

"I've always liked science," his own voice called from the back seat.

"Fuck," Ianto yelled, nearly jumping out of his skin. "God you scared me."

"Not every day you get scared by yourself," Iden mused with a quiet laugh.

"Fuck you," Ianto growled. He hated being caught off guard, and the afternoon had been rough. He wasn't in the mood.

Iden let out a chuckle. "I apologize; I didn't mean to scare you."

"You knew it was going to happen!" Ianto said sullenly.

"I did." Iden replied simply. "Anyway, science. You need to learn everything you can about it."

"So I'll be able to clone my friends?"

Iden shrugged.

"If you're not going to be helpful, would you leave?"

"So that you know, Adrian is the one who convinced Jason not to… do anything too drastic. I've always left your discipline to them. You know, because if it was up to me either it would be too severe or too lenient. I have difficulty being objective where you're concerned. "

"Are you planning on staying in my car much longer?" Ianto asked flatly.

Ianto saw Iden roll his eyes in the rearview. He couldn't help but laugh. It was weird to see himself doing something he did all the time.

Iden smiled as well and leaned up in the seat. "It'll be okay, little me. You'll make it through." he said, patting Ianto on the shoulder and the exiting the car.

Ianto made eye contact with Iden and gave a slight nod before pulling away.

TW-TW-TW

"We killed us a shape shifter, partner." Jack drawled when Ianto walked into the hub.

Ianto laughed. Jack was wearing a cowboy hat.

"What's funny, partner?" Jack grinned, placing a red cap on Ianto's head.

Ianto smiled. "Well, soldier, are you going to cook that shape-shifter?"

"Naw, I was thinking about pizza. With a sexy Welshman for starters, and Ianto à la mode for dessert," Jack leered, pulling Ianto in for a kiss.

Ianto pulled away. "Wait, let me see if I understand this correctly. You're a cowboy and I'm a UNIT solider?"

"I'm a space cowboy."

"Do they have those?"

"They do now," Jack teased tipping his hat. "Let's get these clothes off," he insisted, beginning to undo Ianto's tie.

"Shiny," Ianto agreed with a grin, fumbling with the buttons of Jack's shirt.

"We really should have a no clothing rule; it would make ravishing you a lot easier." Jack pointed out. He finished with Ianto's tie and moved to the buttons of his waist coat.

"I thought you liked my suits? And since when am I not easy enough to ravish?" Ianto asked pulling Jack's hands away from him and making the man turn around so he could pull the blue shirt off his shoulders. He folded it and laid it on top of Tosh's desk.

"Oh, I do like the suits," Jack leered. He pulled off his undershirt and threw it carelessly aside as Ianto removed his undone tie and waist coat and placed them neatly on the back on Tosh's desk chair then bent over and picked up the cowboy hat that had fallen off Jack's head and placed it atop his blue shirt.

"Besides, I don't know if the others would appreciate a no clothing rule." Ianto mused, pulling his dress shirt out of his trousers and starting to unbutton it from the top. Jack worked on the buttons from the bottom.

"I don't know," he said, "It couldn't hurt to ask,"

"I've seen Gwen throw a punch, so I have to disagree. It could hurt to ask," Ianto insisted, shrugging out of his dress shirt and placing it neatly over his waist coat.

"Alright, you win," Jack whispered pulling Ianto close so that the warm flesh of their now bare chests came together.

"I like it when I win," Ianto smiled, putting a hand in Jack's hair and pressing his lips against his lover's, demanding entrance instantly. Jack complied.

With no breath left to speak they fought to undo each other's trousers, both pushing the others down in unison, never breaking the kiss. There was a fit of laughter as they stumbled to remove their shoes. Finally, all clothes were gone except the red cap.

Ianto wasted no time pulling Jack over to the couch, pausing momentarily to retrieve the lube from Jack's discarded trousers. He pushed the older man down, desperate to feel in control of _something. _Jack understood instinctively; he relaxed in silent acquiescence and allowed Ianto to take what he needed. His head tilted back and his cowboy hat toppled to the floor, forgotten.

The Welshman prepared his lover with the lube and wasted no time pressing into him, fighting to keep himself together when Jacks noises of pleasure nearly pushed him over the edge.

"Jack," Ianto moaned, bending down to capture the other man's lips quickly as their bodies moved as one entity.

Ianto tangled his fingers in Jacks hair, pulling Jack's head back to expose his neck to an assault of small kisses and bites. He nipped at Jack's collarbone, never ceasing his steady thrusting. Jack's body started to tremble, and Ianto knew they were both close. He pressed his body against Jacks and thrust harder, faster, until Jack released between them, slicking their bodies with his cum. The sensation drove Ianto to the edge and he came as well, biting down on Jack's neck to muffle his moan of ecstasy as he rode out his climax. Surprisingly, the red cap was still firmly in place.

TW-TW-TW

"If they run off together, don't think I'm going to turn bender," Rhys teased Ianto as the two watched Gwen and Jack dance at the reception of what had to be the most interesting wedding Ianto had ever attended.

"You sure?" Ianto smiled. Rhys looked at him and grinned.

"Well, if I get to be top."

"Are you asking me to be your wife?" he asked with amusement. "It's a tempting offer."

"You'd be lucky to have me," Rhys teased.

"Who would cook?" Ianto asked.

"Well, I'm a pretty good cook."

"Bet I'm better."

"We could take turns?" Rhys suggested.

"Ah, look at us. Already compromising." Ianto smiled.

"I feel like it would work well," Rhys grinned.

"That's because you think you'll get to be on top." Ianto smiled."Anyway, while it's always nice to have a plan B, I'm going to go see if my plan A will dance with me," He gave Rhys a wave and a wink as he went to join his lover on the dance floor.

"May I…?" Ianto said interrupting Jack and Gwen's dance.

Gwen pulled away from Jack reached for Ianto. He side stepped her and put an arm around Jack, resting his free hand on the man's chest. Jack suppressed a giggle as Gwen stumbled slightly and fought to pretend she'd expected it.

Ianto sighed as Jack took his hand and held it close between them. "I've been married." Jack said softly.

"Me too," Ianto quipped. He wasn't sure if this was the best venue for deep discussion.

"Oh, what happened?"

"I'm too wild to be held down."

Jack laughed and pulled the Welshman closer. "I promise this isn't one of my 'I had a boyfriend' stories."

"Good, because Rhys has provisionally asked for my hand. He informed me that if I was with him I wouldn't have to cook every night."

"And when's the last time you cooked for me?"

"Not the point," Ianto grinned.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Can I continue my story?"

"Yes, go on, sir."

"She didn't know about me, you know."

"What happened to her?" Ianto whispered, afraid of the answer.

"I left."

Ianto's body stiffened, and both men became still.

"Is that what you always do?"

"Not with you," Jack murmured kissing the side of Ianto's head and gently leading him to sway with the music once again. So caught up were they that they didn't notice when the music stopped.

One of Gwen's annoying friends finally broke them up. "Oi, you two are the only good looking ones here, and you have a queue of girls who want to dance with you," she said, grabbing Ianto's hand and dragging him off to dance. Jack and Ianto found themselves being passed around the dance floor until Ianto finally pled fatigue and escaped to prepare the Retcon. It was going to be a late night.

TW-TW-TW

"Alright Jack, everyone's been tucked nice and warmly into their beds," Ianto announced, walking into Jack's office to see the man looking at an old photograph, his eyes glassy with unshed tears.

"Is that her?" Ianto asked coming to stand behind Jack.

"Yes," he said, trailing a finger reverently across the photograph.

"She was beautiful," Ianto said after a moment. The photograph was faded and yellowed with age, but it was clear that the woman had been exquisite. "Did you keep tabs on her after you left?"

"She remarried, had a couple of children, grew old, and died. I stood at her funeral. No one mentioned me."

"I can't imagine how painful that must've been," Ianto said soothingly. He placed a hand on Jack's shoulder. Jack took his hand and pressed a kiss into Ianto's palm before holding it to his heart.

"So painful. This life is painful," Jack mumbled.

"Yeah," Ianto agreed.


	47. Chapter 47

AN: Thank you my amazing decorator Taamar. She is such a blessing. Anyway, this chapter is really focused on Ianto's relationship with his father. And as I said last time keep those tissues ready.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

Rating: R

Spoilers: From Out of the Rain.

Warnings: Suicide attempt (kinda). Implied sexual situations. Depression.

** Chapter 47**

**1990**

"Ianto, dear, your father's ready to go!" Ianto's mother called up the stairs.

The seven year old boy rushed to finish tying his shoelaces. "Coming, Mum!" he called, jumping to his feet and running down the stairs. He looked forward to Saturday mornings out with his Tad; they would go to the Electro movie theater to watch cartoons then head to a nearby sweet shop where Ianto was allowed to pick any candy he wanted.

"Whoa, where's the fire, Yanni?" Rhi teased him when he ran into her at the bottom of the stairs.

"Are you coming with us today?" Ianto asked excitedly. Until she met Johnny, the neighbor boy, Rhi had joined them every week. Ianto missed having his sister along on the Saturday outings.

"Nope, buddy, sorry. I'm a bit too old for cartoons and candy," she replied. Ianto couldn't imagine being too old for cartoons and candy. _Tad _wasn't too old, and Rhi was only eleven.

"Don't forget your coat, dear," Ianto's mum reminded him, "It's chilly out. " As she helped him into his woolen overcoat Ianto could tell she'd been crying again. He wasn't sure why she cried, though she did it often, and when he'd asked Rhi about it once she had told him not to worry about it. She said it was for the grown-ups to deal with.

"Come with us, mum?" Ianto asked. He always asked and she always declined, yet he hoped one day she would join them.

"No, you go and have fun with your Tad," she said, kissing him on the head gently.

"Ready, son?" Ianto's tad asked, sticking his head into the house from the front porch. Ianto nodded vigorously as he ran to the door to jump into his father's waiting arms.

**2008**

Ianto had mixed feeling when he heard that the old Electro theater was being reopened. He was excited to see the place that had been the site of so many fond memories with his father, but thinking about his father invariably led to less pleasant memories. He had been debating a visit for a few days when Tosh reported rift activity in the theater, and that decided him; it was time to face his past, if only in this small way. He only wished that Gwen and Owen hadn't wanted to tag along.

**1997**

Ianto remembered when Saturday mornings had been the best part of his week. He remembered when candy, cartoons and spending time with his Tad had been all it took to make him happy. Now, though, Saturday mornings were just a reminder of the carefree times of his past. For the last three weeks he'd been confined to his room after his arrest for lifting a CD from a local record store, and now Saturday morning was taunting him. He hadn't even really wanted the CD. He flopped down on his bed and tried to remember why it had seemed like such a good idea.

A small knock on his bedroom door pulled Ianto from his brooding thoughts. "Come in," he called with a sigh.

His father opened the door and sat down next to him on the bed. "I was thinking we could spend the day together? We could go see a film maybe?"

"What, and get me candy? I'm not a child." Ianto snapped. "Anyway, I'm grounded until my court date, remember?" Ianto stared at the ceiling; he couldn't bring himself to make eye contact with his father.

"Yes, but I thought it would be nice for us to spend some one-on-one time together. Clear the air, so to speak?"

"What air do we need to clear?"

"Son," the man sighed, "I don't understand this new phase you're in. It's hard being a teen, I can remember, but I don't think pushing me and your mum away is going to make it easier."

Ianto's father never lost his cool, and Ianto respected that. He had never seen his father truly angry; the man rarely raised his voice, and never raised his fist. The one time he had hurt Ianto had been purely by accident: the boy had begged to be pushed higher on the swings and had fallen and broken his arm, and even then his father had handled the situation with calm efficiency. Ianto stared at the ceiling as he remembered. How could his impassive father possibly understand the chaos of emotions that swirled within Ianto?

"I'm not," Ianto protested, "I'm just trying to live."

"Ahh… I see, and living involves a life of crime, does it?"

Ianto just shrugged.

"You're hurting your mum with this rebellious thing. Really, what's with the nail polish? Is that part of your new_ living_?"

Ianto turned in his bed to show he didn't want to chat with his tad any further.

"I'll be here when you're ready," the man said. He got up and left the room, gently shutting the door behind him.

Ianto flopped over and buried his face in his pillow, finally allowing his tears to overflow. His father wouldn't understand even if he did tell him the truth. Everything had gone to shit, and his feelings were all over the place.

Rhi had moved out, and that was hard. His mother had been having more of her _spells,_ as his father called them, and Ianto had a crush on Ryan, his best mate, _and_ on Ryan's sister Ruth. Confusing as hell, that. And now he was stuck in the house until his court date because he'd given in to an impulse he didn't understand. Ianto fell asleep ruminating on the unfairness of it all.

When he woke the house was empty. _Mum must be having a good day, if she's well enough to leave the house_, he thought. With no one there to tell him otherwise, Ianto decided that he was going to go out as well. He was tired of being cooped up, and of being alone with his thoughts. He rode his bike to a nearby theater knowing that an action movie would divert his attention. After buying a ticket he went to the gents to relieve himself before finding a seat.

As he was standing in front of the urinal he heard his father's voice and froze. Low murmurs and gasps came from the stall on the end, his father's voice and that of a woman who was not his mother. Numbed by shock, Ianto fastened his jeans and left the theater, forgetting all about the movie and the ticket he'd bought. _This can't be true_ he thought, _Tad would never, _could never,_ cheat on Mum. He loves her. He does!_

Ianto raced home, tears streaming down his face, howling his unbearable pain to the wind as the last thing he felt sure of crumbled around him. At home, he went to the medicine cabinet and took out his mothers pills, swallowing them by random handfuls, seeking oblivion.

**2008**

Ianto was usually more reticent about sharing personal information, but seeing those children lying in their hospital beds momentarily short-circuited his internal edit, and he had spit out that he knew Providence Park before he could stop himself.

It said something, he thought, that it was fine for a Cardiff native to know where all the local theaters were, that it was more than acceptable for him to know where to get half price drinks on Thursdays, but that knowing the name of the nearest psychiatric facility was somehow _not done_.

"Is this where you stayed when you were in one of these?" Jack asked as he parked outside the hospital.

"Yes," Ianto admitted. No point in lies or evasion, Jack could look it up.

"You don't have to go in if you don't want to."

"I'm not a baby, Jack. It's not like they tortured me, just made me talk about my feelings."

"Sounds like torture to me," Jack teased.

"Come on, let's go see what this little old lady knows," Ianto insisted, rolling his eyes and getting out of the car.

**1997**

"Do you want to tell me why you took the pills, Ianto?" Dr. Harrell asked, just as she had every day for the last three weeks.

"I wanted the pain to stop," he responded. It was a well-rehearsed exchange between them.

"Tell me about the pain."

"My mother is never happy, my father has betrayed the family, and my sister left me," Ianto replied dryly.

"Your mother has chronic depression. Do you know what that means?"

"That she's never happy."

"No, she just needs medicine to help her function due to a chemical imbalance in her brain. It can be genetic; it's possible you have it as well."

"I'm not depressed."

"No? You're angry, and in pain. These are symptoms of depression."

"I'm not mental!" Ianto shouted.

"Do you feel your mother is 'mental'?"

Ianto shrugged.

"Let's discuss your sister. Where did she move to?"

"A few blocks away."

"Can you walk to her house? Or maybe ride your bike?"

Ianto looked at the doctor and scowled. That wasn't the point at all.

"Yes, I can." he responded shortly.

"Ianto, you know I'm not trying to dismiss your problems. I'm just trying to give you some perspective."

Ianto shrugged.

"You say your father betrayed the family. Tell me about that."

This was the part that Ianto always closed up on. It was the part he couldn't bear to discuss.

"Ianto, I'm just trying to help. Anything you say here will stay here, you understand."

Ianto nodded and took a deep breath. "He's cheating on my mum. I caught him."

"Oh," the doctor said, sounding a bit relieved.

"What?"

"Well, while that is a betrayal, I feel better about the decision I have come to now that I know your father hasn't been harming you."

"I told you he wasn't!" Ianto growled.

"Mr. Jones, I don't think you're mental. I don't even think you have depression. I just think you're dealing with things that a fourteen year old boy shouldn't have to deal with. I don't even think you're truly suicidal, given that you called 999 only five minutes after taking the pills."

"Really?"

"Yes, I'm signing off on your release today."

"Yeah?" Ianto asked, relieved to put Providence Park behind him.

The doctor gave him a small smile. "As much as I'll miss our daily talks, yes. I don't think you need to be here."

Ianto rolled his eyes.

"Ianto, I think you should still see me once a week. It's difficult, what you're going through. Homosexuality is hard to deal with, even in today's society where it's more accepted. Coming out to your family is a hard thing to do; you don't have to do it right away, if you don't want. It's up to you."

"Yeah, think I'm going to leave that discussion for another time. Maybe it won't be necessary. Could be I'll fall in love with a girl."

"Could be," the doctor agreed, nodding.

Ianto shifted in the scrubs he was forced to wear in the juvenile ward of the hospital.

The doctor smiled softly and placed a hand on Ianto's shoulder. "Your father will be here in the morning to check you out. I'll see you every Tuesday." They walked down the hall together until an orderly escorted him to his room. The next day she shook his hand as his father signed him out and took him home.

2008

"What did we decide to do with the boy?" Owen asked at the morning meeting.

"He's going to stay with his grandparents in Newport," Ianto replied, looking down at his hands. He was still upset that he had only managed to save the boy and not the other victims.

"He's alive because of you, Ianto," Gwen's whispered softly, putting her hand over his.

Ianto looked over at the Welshwoman and smiled sadly.

"It's all worth it even if we only save one life. Imagine what that boy may be able to accomplish in his lifetime. He could become minister." Gwen continued. Ianto could finally see the heart that Jack talked about.

"Gwen's right," Jack announced. Gwen looked up at their leader and her face lit up at his compliment.

Ahh... There's the Gwen Cooper Ianto knew.

December 2000

"I still don't understand why you're living there," Ianto's mum said into the phone. Again.

"Where else am I a supposed to go, mum?" Ianto questioned.

"Home, here with me and your tad."

"I can't, mum."

"What happened between the two of you?"

"It's hard to explain."

"At least come for Christmas."

Ianto looked over at Jason, who was reading a book beside him on the couch. "I don't want to leave Jason," he admitted.

"Why is that? Because you love him? Are you and he…?"

"Yes mum," Ianto admitted.

"I knew it, ever since I found that ABBA cassette in your room."

"Mum," Ianto groaned.

"I'll discuss it with your father and you can bring him to Christmas dinner."

"Mum, no, don't-"

"Listen dear, I have to go. I love you," his mother said hastily, and the call was ended.

"Shit." Ianto moaned looking at the phone.

"Family problems?" Jason questioned.

"Mum's going to tell tad about you and me."

"Oh, great," Jason growled.

"It's not that bad."

"If you say so," Jason sighed, resting his head back on the couch and placing his book beside him.

"What if is, though?" Ianto asked, now worried.

Jason turned his head to look at his young charge and lover. "We'll deal with it."

Ianto bit his lip. He wanted to bend forward and capture Jason's lips but he remained where he was.

"Let's go to bed," Jason suggested. Ianto nodded.

The ringing of the doorbell woke Ianto up at one am.

"Who's that?" Jason asked, shooting up out of bed and looking at Ianto, obviously still half-way asleep.

"I don't know, sir."

"Yeah, okay." Jason said, rubbing his sleepy eyes. "You stay here and I'll go check it out."

"Will you uncuff me before you go?" Ianto pleaded.

Jason looked at him and smiled. "Yeah, wouldn't want you unable to defend yourself in case this is a new way to burgle someone's home, waking them up in the middle of the night by ringing the doorbell." the green-eyed man teased as he grabbed the key to the cuffs off the side table and undid Ianto's hands.

Ianto resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his guardian's attempt at a joke. Jason went to leave the room still naked as the day he was born.

"Sir, might I suggest you wear clothing?"

Jason turned and looked at Ianto as if pondering whether or not clothing was a good idea. The doorbell rang again. "Oh, I guess," Jason muttered, grabbing a pair of boxers off the ground and hurriedly pulling them over his hips.

Ianto grinned at how cute the man could be at times.

"Alright, I'll be back." Jason said trying to mimic the Terminator.

This time Ianto did roll his eyes, but not until the bedroom door closed behind his guardian. He let out a little giggle then lay back down onto the comfortable bed. He slept in it most nights now, and he loved it. Just as he was about to drift back to sleep he heard the loud yell of a voice he recognized: his father's. He shot up in bed and grabbed his boxers; the voice seemed to be getting closer.

The door to the room was forced open and Ianto stared in horror at his tad. "This is why you aren't coming home for Christmas?" the man shouted, "Because some man has seduced you into his bed like you're a random whore?"

Ianto's defenses immediately shot up. "I'd rather be a whore than betray my family, like you've done."

"And this isn't betraying your family, choosing some pervert over us?"

"Don't," Ianto snarled.

"Sodomite! Did you not pay attention during Mass? _Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: It is abomination. _How could you do this to us?"

"You've no right to discuss sin with me!" Ianto yelled. Jason came to stand between the two men.

"I think we should calm down perhaps." the guardian suggested.

"Don't tell me what I should do when it pertains to my boy!" Ianto's father growled.

Jason narrowed his eyes, but kept his voice deadly calm. "This is my home. You've come here without invitation, in the middle of the night. You've treated me disrespectfully, you've insulted my lover, and, worst of all, you've interrupted my sleep. My patience is waning. I suggest we all go downstairs and discuss this in a calm and rational manner. Your other option, of course, is to leave. Now. "

Ianto's father looked past Jason and stared directly at him, his eyes full of contempt. "You're no son of mine," he spat before turning on his heels and leaving the room. Jason followed the man out.

Ianto stood perfectly still, blinking in shock as he stared at the spot his father had vacated. His father wasn't judgmental like this. His father understood, his father didn't raise his voice, not even when Ianto was arrested. His father had always loved him.

Silent tears streamed down Ianto's cheeks. Memories of his father flitted through his mind like flashbacks of a happier time. Memories of when he was young and his father would sing fun songs. Of the many times they had sat together in the candy shop. The way his father held him and called him brave after the incident on the swing; he had been terrified, but knew everything would be OK, because his Tad was there.

Ianto felt Jason's strong arms wrap around him. "Shh… he didn't mean it, Yanni. He's just upset."

"He did mean it," Ianto sniffed. "He never says anything he doesn't mean."

"No," Jason whispered, kissing the side of Ianto's mouth and trailing down his neck, nipping gently as he went, helping Ianto deal with pain in the only way he knew how.


	48. Chapter 48

AN: Thank you Taamar, you are so wonderful! This is another emotional chapter, but there is some fun in it. Still keep the tissues near.

Disclaimers: I don't own Torchwood.

Rating: R

Spoilers: Adrift.

Warning: M/M Sex

Chapter 48

It was a rare occurrence when Ianto Jones could say that he had nothing to do. There was always something, but as Ianto sat at his desk in the archives and looked down at his finished to do list he felt a bit lost. He had cleaned the tourist center, put all the random tech he found around the hub away. He had thoroughly cleaned Jack's office and looked sadly at Owen's desk, which he never had to clean anymore, since Owen was not longer eating there (or anywhere else). The med bay and kitchenette were both sanitized and stocked. There was literally nothing left to do, and Ianto was terrible at doing nothing. He stood up and paced.

"Ianto," Jack's voice said in his ear.

_Oh good,_ Ianto thought, _maybe there is an alien invasion. That would cure this boredom._

"Is there a problem, sir?" Ianto asked after activating his comms. He tried not to sound too hopeful.

"Nope. You want to go Weevil hunting?"

_Oh, god, yes please,_ Ianto thought excitedly. "Umm… yes I believe I can fit it onto my to-do list," he answered Jack.

"Alright, I'll meet you in the SUV in five minutes."

"Sounds like a plan, sir," Ianto replied, then deactivated his comms.

It took Ianto exactly four minutes and thirty-nine seconds to slide into the driver's seat of the SUV. He was excited to finally have something to do, so he got there a bit early.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked, opening the driver's door three minutes later.

"Waiting for you to get in," Ianto replied.

"I'm driving."

"Why?"

"Because I'm the boss."

Ianto rolled his eyes, but got out of the car anyway, circling around to the passenger seat and buckling himself in. "So, where are we hunting today?" Ianto asked as Jack pulled the SUV out of the garage.

"It's a surprise," Jack grinned.

"As much as I love surprises, random sewer entrances are not very mysterious."

Jack let out a small chuckle, but didn't say any more.

Ianto knew that chuckle: Jack was plotting something, and any plot of Jack's was bound to be more interesting than staring at his desk or pacing in the archives.

"Oh, I see," Ianto grinned when he realized where Jack was headed. "Is this an attempt at romance, Jack?"

"I don't 'attempt' romance. I do it with class." Jack grinned, putting the SUV into park in a fire lane and jumping out. Ianto rolled his eyes and laughed, then got out as well. Jack came up beside him and grabbed his hand.

"I believe it was that tree over there," Ianto grinned, pointing at the place that Jack and he had first officially met.

"Oh I know it was that tree, because I've been thinking about it non-stop for nearly two years."

"You've been thinking about a tree?" Ianto asked playfully.

"No, I've been thinking about what I'm going to do to you against that tree, and under that tree, and, if you're in an adventurous mood, in the branches of that tree."

"Jack, it's out in the open."

"So? It's dark."

Ianto bit his lip and stopped walking. Jack looked back at him. "Please," he pouted.

"If we get arrested…"

"I'll get us out of it," Jack promised, pulling Ianto closer and planting a kiss on his lips. How could Ianto refuse? Jack pulled him the rest of the way to the tree and, as soon as they got there, pressed him against it, attacking his lips then pulling away.

"And you are?" Jack whispered against Ianto's skin.

"Jones. Ianto Jones."

TW-TW-TW

Ianto was having trouble focusing. The previous night's 'Weevil hunt' had been hot, and he couldn't get it off his mind. He made coffee while he daydreamed, the motions so automatic that he was barely even aware of them. He scarcely noticed when Tosh joined him in the kitchen and asked him a question.

"Do you think a Child registers on the rift monitor when they appear here?" She asked. Ianto blinked at her, trying to drag his thoughts away from the feel of jack's hands on his body and back to the present.

"Well, if that alien spoon we found last week registered I'm sure a child would," Jack announced, coming around the corner. "Oh wait, is this one of those 'If a tree falls in the forest' questions?"

"Umm..." Tosh mumbled, "Yeah, been reading up on philosophical questions, figured Team Torchwood needed their own," she lied flawlessly.

"And 'which came first' is a loaded question around here." Jack riposted, causing Ianto's attention to wander once more.

Ianto reached for a mug for Jack and accidentally knocked his own full mug off the counter. He jumped back, barely missing being splashed with hot coffee.

"Whoa, champ," Jack laughed.

Ianto straightened his suit jacket and cleared his throat. "Sorry, Sir, didn't get much sleep last night." he said. "And what did I say about the childlike nicknames." he added under his breath.

"Sorry, Tiger Pants," Jack grinned. Ianto felt his face turn scarlet.

"Tiger Pants, I think I like that more than Tea-boy," Owen laughed, coming into the kitchenette with the others.

Ianto rolled his eyes. What was the world coming to if he couldn't even daydream in peace at work? "Alright, everyone please move away from my coffee machine, thank you very much," he bellowed. His team mates all scurried away. As he cleaned the spilled coffee he sighed and tried to focus on work, lest he get caught off guard again.

TW—TW—TW

Gwen was acting strange. During his tenure at Torchwood Ianto had come to understand each of his colleagues quite well. He grinned as he reflected that the reverse was not true. Still, he could tell when something was up, and something was definitely up with Gwen. He wondered if he should confront her or tell Jack. After careful consideration he gave in to his curiosity.

"What's going on in the basement?" Ianto asked, cornering her at her desk while the others were going over some alien medical tech thing in the conference room.

"Nothing," Gwen smiled. She was a terrible liar.

"I'll tell Jack," he warned.

"It's just a little pet project of mine and Tosh's. We are going to tell Jack soon."

Ianto narrowed his eyes. "Is it dangerous?"

"No, Ianto, it isn't dangerous," she insisted.

"Are you sure? Because things aren't always as innocent as they seem. Small decisions can have consequences all out of proportion."

Gwen sighed. "Ianto, there is no alien tech at all. The only things we have in that room are pages we printed off. Which reminds me, the printer is out of ink."

"I just got ink, yesterday!"

Gwen shrugged.

Ianto huffed out a sigh and walked away. Now he had to go to the office store.

TW-TW-TW

"Team meeting!" Gwen's voice chimed through the comms.

Ianto had just returned to the hub with several bags of office supplies, having decided to buy in bulk, so it took him some time to put them all away in the supply closet before he was able to make his way to the conference room.

"Took you long enough," Owen teased when Ianto was the last to arrive to the impromptu meeting.

Ianto had difficulty dealing with Owen lately. Clone-Owen, he reminded himself; Real-Owen was still in Jason's basement, along with Real-Tosh. Creepy. And Clone-Owen was _dead. _It was hard to get past.

Ianto sat down beside Jack, who winked suggestively. Ianto flushed slightly, hoping that meant Jack intended to continue their previous night's escapades after-hours.

He lost hope as Gwen and Tosh presented their findings. They'd noticed the negative rift-spikes and had discovered that the rift could take as well as give. They had a list of missing persons, including a few names he recognized. Jack reacted poorly, ordering Tosh and Gwen to drop it. They argued with him, of course. Jack slammed his hands down on the conference table and refused to discuss it further, then stalked out of the room shaking with rage.

"Jack," Ianto exclaimed, grabbing the man's arm after catching up to him. "Maybe you should just tell her."

Jack shook his head. "No! It's bad enough I've told you, no one should have to live with that burden."

"You don't need to take it all on by yourself though. What is going to happen when I die? Are you just going to go back to not sharing it with someone?" He wanted to tell Jack that the day was coming soon, but he couldn't; all he could do was try to make it easier when it happened.

"And you're Gwen's biggest fan, now? What do you think she can do? She'd break her heart trying to 'fix' things, and some things just can't be fixed!"

"Jack, tell her. She'll never let it go, and we could use the help."

"No." Jack crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Ianto.

"Jack-"

"NO! How many times do I have to say no? This is my decision, and no one else's. We will not be telling her. Is that clear?" Jack barked through clenched teeth.

"Clear, Sir." Ianto replied flatly. He hoped the make-up sex that night would be worth it.

TW-TW-TW

"Hey," Ianto said softly, peeking into Jack's office after the others had gone home.

"Hmm," Jack replied grumpily.

"I'm sorry," Ianto tried.

"Hmm"

"I was thinking about getting naked and hiding somewhere in the hub."

Jack looked up from his desk and raised an eyebrow with interest.

Ianto knew he had won. He was thankful for that, because he didn't know how Jack was going to react when he found out about the little package he had left on Gwen's desk. He knew it would be bad, but not_ how_ bad. He put the worry aside and set his mind to seducing his Captain.

Ianto started to undo his tie. Jack watched closely, obviously still a bit pouty. Ianto dropped the tie onto the chair in front of Jack's desk, then unbuckled his belt and looked up innocently at the immortal. The older man gave a small smile. Ianto dropped the belt to the ground, then toed off his shoes before turning and walking out of the office.

"Find me if you can," he called over his shoulder as he heard rather than saw Jack get up. Ianto made a run for it, up the stairs and into the greenhouse, quickly hiding beneath a table. Jack came in a minute later and stuck a head under the table.

"Found you," he grinned. Jack was only wearing his trousers, and they were undone.

"You cheated."

"If you're not cheating, you're not trying" Jack teased, pulling the Welshman out of his hiding place and working on the last few buttons of the shirt. Ianto shrugged out of it and placed it on the table that was now beside him. "So," Jack grinned.

"Doesn't count. You cheated, so I win." Ianto said shaking his head. Usually the winner of the game got a blow job.

Jack shook his head. "That's not in the rules."

"It doesn't need to be in the rules. Cheaters forfeit. I won."

"I need this" Jack said, his voice low with emotion. Ianto saw the pain and desire in his lover's eye and dropped to his knees, wanting to offer what solace he could. Jack's hand twined into his hair. "You're so beautiful."

Ianto felt himself blush as he pulled Jack's trousers down. The man was rock hard already, and Ianto bent forward and licked the head. Jack sucked in a breath. Ianto looked up and into Jack's eyes, then circled the head with his tongue.

"Please," Jack pleaded. Ianto sucked just the head into his mouth. "Fuck," Jack growled. Ianto pulled away and then sucked the member back in, pulling more in this time. He repeated this action until he was deep throating Jack every time he sucked him in. "Ianto, I'm…" Jack began and Ianto pulled away causing Jack to whimper.

"We can't have that," Ianto grinned, looking up at Jack through his eyelashes.

"When did you become so mean?"

"Admit that I won."

"but…"

"Alright," Ianto smiled, getting to his feet.

"Yan," Jack whined. Ianto grabbed his shirt. "Okay, you won, you are the god of naked hide and seek."

Ianto dropped the shirt and then dropped back to his knees to put Jack out of his misery.

"Is it my turn to torture you now?" Jack asked after, helping Ianto to his feet.

"I don't deserve torture," Ianto pouted. Jack pulled him closer by the waistband of his trousers.

"Oh, I think I'll be the judge of that," he leered, quickly undoing the trousers and gripping the cock within.

Ianto whimpered and bent forward to capture the grinning lips before him.

"Oh god!" A female voice yelled.

TW-TW-TW

"Are you embarrassed?" Jack asked as Ianto came back into the greenhouse after telling Gwen about the package on her desk.

"Why?" Ianto questioned, taking off his shirt again.

"Because Gwen caught us."

Ianto shrugged. I really didn't bother him.

"Are you mad that I asked her to join?"

"Nope. Can you stop with the twenty questions and fuck me already?"

"Would you have let her join?"

"You are treading on thin ice here, Jack."

Jack grinned and walked over to pull Ianto into his arms. "You're perfect."

"Thank you."

"Worth a million missed threesomes."

"Just a million?"

"Oh, I don't know," Jack chimed turning Ianto around so the Welshman's back pressed against his chest. He ran his hands down Ianto's flat stomach and into his pants. He gripped the cock that was inside. "Anyway, where were we?"

"This is familiar," Ianto moaned.

Jack used his other hand to free Ianto of his trousers; they fell to the floor and Ianto stepped out of them. "Bend over that table for me." Jack whispered, and Ianto rushed to comply. Jack opened him quickly with lubed fingers, and within three minutes Jack was pressing slowly into the younger man.

Ianto prayed this wasn't the last time, but if for some reason it was, it was a really amazing time.

TW-TW-TW

"You had no right!" Jack bellowed, forcing his way into Ianto's flat.

"Jack, calm down, you'll wake the neighbors."

"You don't have neighbors. I checked. Ever since Sarah Higgins moved out and Mr. Davies died no one has moved in. Apparently Iden Miller doesn't want to rent these flats any longer. Not since his wife died."

"Her name was Aria," Ianto snapped. "You met her."

"Stop trying to change the subject! I don't care about your landlord. Why the hell did you tell Gwen about Flat Holm?" Jack demanded.

"I didn't tell her."

"Oh, don't give me that shit. You gave her the GPS, you know what I meant!"

"You wouldn't do it. I don't want you to have to bear the burden alone."

"We already had this discussion." Jack spat.

"And you weren't listening to me then, either. There's a chance that one day I won't be here, Jack. One day we all won't be here. I want to make sure you have someone to be there. Because I care about you."

"If you cared you would listen to me. You wouldn't have…" Jack's voice broke.

"Jack," Ianto tried taking a step closer to him.

"You want to save me heartache? To prevent me from having to carry around the pain all on my own?"

"Yes."

"You're all going to die. You're all going to leave me; I will always have to carry that pain!"

Ianto shook his head.

"You know, since you want to save me pain, maybe we should just end this now. Rip it off like a band-aid."

"No," Ianto pleaded.

"This is what I need to do. To end us, then maybe you can find your Rhys. Get married, have a normal life."

"No," Ianto repeated.

"I'm not giving you a choice."

"Please," Ianto whimpered, trying to hold in a slew of tears that were threatening to fall.

Jack turned and headed towards the door.

"I'm sorry Jack. Please don't leave," Ianto cried, running after his lover and grabbing his arm.

Jack pulled his arm away. "I'll see you at work in the morning, Mr. Jones." Jack stated his voice level, his expression neutral. Only the tightness around his eyes gave away his agitated state.

Ianto stood in shock as the man he loved opened the door to his flat and walked out of it.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto knew he wasn't supposed to be here. Jason had been serious when he said not to come back until he was summoned, but the pain was too much for him to sit in his flat alone any longer. Ianto hoped Jason would take pity on him when he saw his red rimmed eyes. If not, the Welshman wasn't above sobbing at his guardian's feet and begging for comfort from the pain in his heart.

He was relieved to discover that his key still worked as he opened the front door quietly. It was one in the morning; Adrian and Jason were likely asleep, and he was hoping he could just climb in bed. As he headed towards the stairs he was startled by a small noise coming from the living room. He peeked in, curious, and felt his mouth drop open in shock.

There, upright on the sofa, was Jason, sleeping with his head tilted back. It had been his snore Ianto had heard. Iden lay across the cushions with his head resting on Jason's lap, and Adrian sat on the floor on Jason's other side with his head rested against his lover's knee. Sleeping, all three, their hands twined together. Ianto had never seen any of them so relaxed; they were clearly profoundly at ease with each other.

On the low table nearby sat a stack of photos, a nearly-empty bottle of scotch, and three glasses. Port Charlotte, Ianto noted. Jack's favorite. Of course. He wondered idly if Iden had remembered all this time, or if it had been something he rediscovered during his recent visit. Ianto saw another bottle, this one empty, on the floor by Jason's feet, and another empty on the side table. They must have had a rough night. Seeing them like this, Ianto couldn't bear to wake them. He poured the last splash of scotch into a glass (Had Iden left it for him on purpose? It seemed likely), curled up in a chair, and sipped at the scotch, crying himself silently to sleep.

Ianto woke with Jason's hand on his cheek. "I didn't summon you," his guardian said gently.

"I'm sorry."

"I know. Iden said. He's making coffee." Jason traced the tear tracks on Ianto's cheeks. "You're forgiven. You know I can't bear your tears." He kissed Ianto softly on the forehead and walked away.

Ianto sighed with relief. Iden came in with two mugs of coffee, handing one to Ianto and sipping from his own. "They'll be awhile," he said, looking away, "They're… not very happy with me right now."

Ianto stayed silent, hoping that Iden would, for once, be forthcoming.

Iden sat in the chair next to Ianto. "Adrian pointed out how much you resemble me lately, and I told him it wouldn't be long. Then I let slip that I intended to go to Jack after. Adrian called me romantic; Jason called me a fool and accused me of endangering all the Children."

"But you were snuggled on the couch together… I thought…" Ianto was confused. Iden shrugged.

"We've been close for a long time. It takes more than that to shake us," Iden smiled slightly, "Fortunately."

Ianto sipped his coffee and considered the depth of trust and love that must be required to hold someone in your arms when you felt betrayed. It's what he wanted with Jack, and he was afraid he'd ruined his chances. Iden reached across and ran his finger down Ianto's cheek where the scar existed on his own.

"Soon," he said, with tears in his eyes.


	49. Chapter 49

AN: I can't believe that I have come to the end of Season two. It's crazy! Anyway, thank you Taamar as always. You're the bomb. This is another emotional chapter and I am sorry, but it I think it ends nicely.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

Spoilers: Exit Wounds

Warning: Character Death.

Ianto had had some terrible birthdays in his life. His fifth had been spent in a hospital with pneumonia, and his twelfth pre-empted by a 'bad spell' of his mother's. To date, though, his twentieth had been the worst; he had been utterly alone. But even with years of experience and perspective, Ianto could see that his twenty-fifth birthday was shaping up to be spectacularly unpleasant.

Adrian fixed him pancakes for his birthday, even putting a bacon smile on them; Ianto had been grateful but it had done little to help his mood. Only Ruby could cheer him at all. Hearing her cute little voice trying to say, "Happy birthday," was enough to make Ianto's lips curl into the only smile he'd felt since Jack walked out of his flat.

He and Jack hadn't been speaking for about two weeks, and Ianto began to worry that they were broken up for good. Could he call it that, he wondered, when they had never officially been together? Did it matter what they called it? Ianto had been spending most nights at Jason's, and had, on a few occasions, gone down into the basement to look at the bodies of his friends. He talked to them and wondered if Tosh could hear him in her dreams. Ianto wondered what Jack thought he was doing while he was away, if he assumed Ianto was sleeping with Jason (he wasn't), and if he was jealous.

Ianto's birthday breakfast had been interrupted by Jack's text calling the entire team in for a tech retrieval. Tech retrieval had ended up being four bombs in an abandoned building, and they had exploded. So now Ianto was lying among the rubble thinking about his estranged lover, and wondering if he now had a cut on his cheek to match Iden's scar, too scared to actually check.

"Ianto," he heard Jack's voice call. Ianto let out a cough and cringed; his shoulder was dislocated. "Ianto!" Jack cried again. Ianto could hear the panic in his former lover's voice, but between his injury and the bricks and the dust all around he didn't have breath to call out. He had tried to put on a brave face when Gwen and Jack had found him, but they'd compressed his shoulder while pulling him up, and Jack had had to reset it. He'd rolled his eyes when asked if he could take it, but it had hurt like a bitch.

"I was worried," Jack explained as the two men went to help Rhys with Tosh.

"Okay," Ianto said hesitantly. There were so many things he wanted to say to Jack, that he was afraid to say, that he _couldn't_ say now, while he was preparing himself to witness the deaths of Owen and Tosh. He was sure it was about to happen, and even knowing that these were clones didn't make it an easy thing to face. He bit his lip to keep from speaking, not sure he could stop if he started.

"How are you?" Jack asked

"I haven't found my Rhys yet if that's what you're trying to ask," Ianto stated.

"I just want you to be happy."

"Well, I'm not. Sorry to disappoint." Ianto snapped. He could see Rhys among the rubble and he dashed off before Jack could comment.

Amazingly, they had all survived the bombs (more or less, in Owen's case). Then John Hart appeared, proving that Ianto's birthday from hell was far from over. Soon Cardiff was burning, and Ianto stood by Tosh and watched helplessly. So many innocent lives lost. The hardest part was knowing that someday, as Iden, he'd have to relive it all, but wouldn't be able to change anything.

Back at the Hub, Ianto could barely control his rage. John Hart was there, and he wanted to relocate the man on the spot. He wanted it with an intensity that drove rational thought from his mind, and he wanted to do it slowly, so that the man would remember him through the rest of his lives. Only Gwen's reminder that Jack might still need John had saved him from Ianto's wrath. He was a disgrace to the Rift, so afraid to begin his second life that he'd sacrificed the only lives of others. He'd allowed himself to be controlled by Jack's damaged younger brother, Gray, and all this devastation was a direct result.

Owen was dead. Clone Owen, Ianto reminded himself, killed shutting down the nuclear reactor. And Clone-Tosh, talking him through it, shot by Gray. She'd died in Jack's arms. Ianto wanted to tell Jack that they were safe, that he didn't need to mourn them, but he knew he couldn't.

Jack ordered that the news be kept off during the clean-up. The city was in ruins and the death toll estimates kept being revised upwards. Ianto knew Jack felt responsible, and he longed to comfort the man, but he kept himself occupied cleaning the Hub and processing Owen and Tosh's final logouts. Watching Tosh's message felt invasive, but he had to, or the others would have known. Still, he ended up in tears imagining what it would be like to lose her and Owen for real.

Jack stood on the gantry and looked down at what remained of his Torchwood team. "Ianto, Gwen, you two go home. Get some rest. Lots to do tomorrow. John, you stay a bit." Jack demanded walking out of the main area of the hub and heading to the vaults.

Ianto and Gwen exchanged expressions in silent conversation. Finally Gwen nodded and, with a sad smile and a little wave, made her way to the cog door and left.

"I'll be waiting outside for you," Ianto informed John in a low voice as he passed him on the way to the garage.

"What will you do?"

"Take you to Iden."

"What will you do when you're him?"

Ianto shrugged.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto waited outside for Hart, expecting a fight. He didn't get one. The man surrendered his vortex manipulator then got into Ianto's car and was quiet the entire ride to Jason's. He didn't speak until Ianto pulled into the drive to park.

"Quite the intimate soiree, I see. " John said flippantly, "Think Iden will want to dance with me?" He emphasized the word _dance _oddly, and Ianto tried to pretend he didn't know what the man was implying.

"This is serious, Hart."

"I know."

Ianto got out of the car and led his prisoner into the mansion. He took him into the basement and locked him into one off the cells. He didn't hear Iden come up behind him.

"You want to see them?" Iden asked. Ianto turned to look at his older self.

"Do they remember everything? Do they know how it felt to die?"

Iden nodded. "I was there when they woke up. They are both a bit… unnerved. Owen's pissed off, of course."

"Of course. Where are they?"

"Same room," Iden said, indicating down the hallway. There were two bodyguards outside of the room that housed Tosh and Owen.

"Minister," They both said automatically, snapping from parade rest to attention when Ianto and Iden approached.

"Gentlemen," Iden said nodding slightly.

"May I recommend that we go in with you, sir. Just to prevent a repeat of earlier." said one of the men.

"It's not necessary…"

"The rift leader insisted." the other man said.

"Yes, and I'm his boss. Last time I checked my orders outranked his," Iden explained.

Both of the guards shifted slightly, then reluctantly let Iden and Ianto in to the room.

Both the medical beds were still set up but there was no longer a beeping from the monitors. Owen and Tosh were sitting together on the bed on the left. Ianto felt his breath catch; they were alive and seemingly well.

"Are we still prisoners?" Owen snapped, looking up from the hand he had been examining.

"I told you, you aren't prisoners." Iden sighed, closing the door behind him.

"Could've fooled me, with Tweedledee and Tweedledum keeping watch over our door. Also, I'm starving. I was told I would have pizza within the hour, where is it? And beer. I want beer. In fact, I need beer. Vast quantities of it. Haven't had any in weeks, you know."

Tosh got off the bed and wrapped Ianto into a hug. "I can't believe this," she whispered. Then she paused, backed away, and slapped him. "Why did you keep it from me?"

"I…" Ianto began, and then the woman was hugging him again.

"I'm happy to be alive," she insisted. Ianto patted her back.

"I'm happy you're alive also."

"Yes, every one's happy. Now can I have some beer?" Owen interrupted.

Tosh pulled away and looked at Owen shaking her head slightly.

"Ianto is only here for a short visit, he needs to head back to the Hub," Iden informed them.

"And so do we," Tosh insisted.

"Nope."

"What did I tell you, Tosh? We're prisoners." Owen sneered.

"Why not?" Tosh asked ignoring Owen's comment.

"Because I went through a lot of trouble to get you this second life and I'm not letting you give it to Torchwood." Iden explained.

"And you get to make that decision?" Owen growled.

"Yes," Iden replied simply.

"Well, what will we do then?"

"I've set up a nice cover life for you. I'll go over the details with you both tomorrow once you've both had more time to adjust to this."

"And if we refuse to go along with your cover life plan?" Owen questioned.

"Then you will be retconned. I don't recommend it. Now, if you will excuse us, we have a few things to do. I promise your pizza and beer will be here shortly." Iden said, opening the door and gesturing for Ianto to go out first.

Ianto gave his two resurrected friends a small smile and apologetic wave as he left the room. He followed Iden back down the hall and to the room Jason always used to train him in, where they found Jason and Adrian standing against a wall and John Hart tied to a chair in the center of the room.

"Oh John, I've missed you." Iden deadpanned, closing the door behind Ianto and turning the lock.

"I sense sarcasm," John taunted.

"Be silent," Jason growled.

John looked over at him and raised his eyebrow. "Fuck you," he laughed

Jason began to walk towards John.

"Jason, stand down," Iden warned.

"I hear aggressive animals are often more obedient when neutered," John suggested.

Iden took two strides forward and backhanded the man across the face.

"Hmm, I do like it rough," John laughed out.

"You're a coward." Iden accused, his voice low and deadly, "In your fear you nearly destroyed a city, causing the deaths of countless people who had only one life to lose. I sentence you to immediate relocation." Iden growled pulling a hand gun out of the back of his trousers.

John's face turned serious for the first time. "Come on, you can't be…"

Ianto didn't get to hear what Iden couldn't be because the man pulled the trigger. John Hart's first life was over.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto couldn't help himself. He drove back to the Hub, needing desperately to make things right with Jack. He made his way through the dark and quiet of the Hub trying not to picture how the day's events had played out there. He lowered himself carefully into Jack's bunker, mindful of his bruises and his aching shoulder.

"What are you doing here," Jack asked, keeping his back to Ianto.

"I've come to check on you, Sir."

"I'm fine," Jack snapped. He was clearly not fine.

"Are you?"

"I said I was, didn't I? Listen, this is my private space. Employees aren't allowed in here."

Ianto rolled his eyes, "Tough," he growled sitting down on the bed. He wasn't giving up, not after everything that had just happened.

"I'm serious, Ianto."

Ianto gave a fake yawn and stretched back on the bed.

"Ianto," Jack warned, turning to face the younger man for the first time. His eyes were red and swollen, and Ianto ached for him.

"I'm not leaving Jack. Not until you realize you want me to stay, and then I won't leave because you won't let me. You need me. And I need you. I'm staying."

A broken sigh escaped Jack's lips, and Ianto felt him get into the bed beside him. "You're stubborn, did you know that," Jack whispered pulling the Welshman into his arms. Ianto turned so that they were face to face.

"I've been told."

Jack gave him a small, sad smile, and then lost control, tears coming in a flood. "It's all my fault," he sobbed.

Ianto ran his hand though Jack's hair and shook his head. "No, it's not, Jack."

"It is," He insisted, "Gray was my brother. He killed Tosh and Owen. He victimized my old friend. He locked my lover in a cell with a weevil. If I had been later in getting to you…" Jack sobbed, unable to articulate what he most feared.

"Shh…" Ianto cooed.

"I'm sorry, Ianto; I shouldn't have pushed you away. I promise not to do it again. Please forgive me."

"Always," Ianto whispered.

"Ianto…" Jack said softly after a few moments of silence.

"Hmm?"

"Happy Birthday."


	50. Chapter 50

AN: Taamar, you are so awesome. Putting up with my craziness is a 24/7 job. Okay, so first part of this is good feels. It's not until the very end that you'll need the tissue. Also, Taamar and I will be busy the next few days so the next update may take a bit.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

Rating: MA

Spoilers: Day One

Warnings: Slash.

Ianto woke up to the feeling of Jack stretching him. He let out a whimper and then a moan when Jack's fingers brushed against his prostate.

"I need you now," Jack whispered against the skin of Ianto's neck. The Welshman let out another moan and raised his hips slightly in invitation. Jack's fingers left him, and then he felt the hardness of his lovers cock begin to press into him stretching him further. Jack's hand gripped the Welshman's hip tightly. Ianto was sure there would be small finger-shaped bruises, but he didn't care; all the mattered was his lover's need. He could feel it radiating from Jack in waves, an intoxicating mix of lust and love.

"I just want to stay like this forever, Ianto" Jack murmured tenderly when he was buried as deep in his lover's body as it was possible to be. Ianto turned his head to the side and Jack captured his lips in a kiss, deep and searing. Ianto found himself lost in sensation as Jack began to thrust into him slowly.

Ianto closed his eyes an allowed himself to imagine a future where every day was like this. He wanted forever, and he knew one day he would have it; he would make sure of it. One day when he and Jack lay tangled together they would both know it was a promise of eternity; there would be no more waiting. Only then would they be able to proclaim their love aloud. Jack would lose his fear. He would accept Ianto's love and be able to return it without reservation.

With this pledge held tight in his heart, Ianto cried out Jack's name.

TW-TW-TW

"So you're babysitting for who, now?" Jack asked, sitting down on Ianto's couch. Ianto was currently running around his flat making sure everything was Ruby-proof. It had been almost two weeks since Tosh and Owen's 'deaths', and Iden had agreed to let Ianto keep Ruby for the weekend while he worked on the last minute details of Tosh and Owen's new life.

"Iden, my landlord," Ianto said absently as he tried to decide if the side table was too dangerous.

"I talked to him on the phone that time." Jack remembered.

"Yeah, you said he sounded hot," Ianto replied. He wondered if it would be overkill to wrap all the furniture in bubble wrap. Or maybe just wrap Ruby. She'd probably like that.

"He sounded like you," Jack mused.

Ianto looked up from where he was kneeling and gave Jack a shocked look. "We're in Wales, Jack. Everyone sounds like me. If that's all it takes you should be walking around in a constant state of arousal. "

Jack laughed. "And so I am," he admitted. "Maybe we should invite your landlord over some night?"

Ianto's brain cramped, and he reminded himself that Jack had no idea what he was suggesting. It was time to change the subject. "Ruby will be dropped off soon. You want to hang out here with us? We could play house?"

"Yeah, I love kids." Jack grinned.

Ianto was surprised when he opened the door to his flat an hour later to find Dylan Edwards holding Ruby out to him. He had imagined that she'd be delivered by her usual nanny, not one of Jason's charges.

"Daddy!" Ruby squealed. Ianto had forgotten about that.

Ianto pulled the toddler into his arms. "Hello dear," he murmured kissing her dark hair.

"Did she just call you daddy?" Jack asked walking up beside him. Dylan came all the way into the flat and closed the door behind him.

"She does that," Dylan said, "I think it's because she's a daddy's girl and likes to pretend everyone is me." He almost sounded sincere, but it was clear to Ianto that he had rehearsed the line.

"Ah, I see," Jack nodded, seeming to accept the explanation.

"Alright Mr. Miller, I promise to take good care of her." Ianto said wanting to get Dylan out as soon as possible before he said something to ruin the ruse. The man was really a terrible liar.

"I know you will," Dylan smiled. then gave Ruby a small, awkward kiss on the cheek, which she squirmed away from. "I'll see you both in a few days." he continued, setting Ruby's bag on the coffee table and then quickly retreating.

"Huh," Jack said, looking at the now closed door to Ianto's flat. "She doesn't seem like a daddy's girl. She didn't even want him to touch her."

Ianto shrugged. "I make girls forget about everyone else," he teased, then set Ruby on the floor. She immediately began to explore.

Jack knelt down in front of her. "Hello Ruby. My name is Jack," he said to her.

As the little girl rolled her eyes in obvious disinterest and wobbled away Ianto he knew this had been a bad idea.

"How often are you around her?" Jack asked looking up at Ianto through eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I see her when I can," Ianto smiled. "Anyway, the pizza should be here soon. I'm just going to go put away her bag."

Jack nodded and then looked back at the little girl as she toddled her way over to Ianto's media cabinet and started pulling all the previously organized DVDs off the shelves.

"Hey you, Ianto has informed me that it is not proper to find a movie that way," Jack teased going over to Ruby and picking her up. He tossed her in the air slightly and she let out a delighted shriek. Watching them bond, Ianto fell deeper in love with Jack. He only wished he could share what he was feeling.

"She looks like you," Jack pointed out once they had finally gotten Ruby to fall asleep for the night. She had fallen asleep in Ianto's arms and he was just returning from putting her in the guest bed. He sat on the sofa next to Jack and took a deep breath, wondering how he was going to deflect this one.

"Nope," Ianto said shaking his head to disagree. Sometimes a simple reply was the best reply.

"She really does. Did you have an affair with Mr. Miller's wife?"

Ianto looked at Jack and laughed. "With Aria? No, Jack."

"I'm serious. Ruby has your eyes and she makes your facial expressions."

"I can assure you that I have never slept with Iden Miller's wife."

"Fine, ruin my fantasies of you involved in a love triangle." Jack huffed bending forward and kissing Ianto gently. Ianto cuddled close, enjoying this feeling of being a family. He wanted this to be forever, too.

"It was a fun night don't you think?" Ianto said, daring to share just a little of what he was thinking.

"Yeah, it was. You'd make a good daddy, I must say."

"Have you had any children?" Ianto asked tentatively.

"Yeah," Jack said, running his hand through Ianto's hair.

"Are any of them still alive?"

"Yeah," Jack replied.

"Is that all I'm going to get?"

"For now. I'm exhausted." Jack murmured, getting up and pulling Ianto with him. "Let's go to bed."

TW-TW-TW

It had been nearly 8 months since Tosh and Owen had taken up their new life. Iden had allowed one video call from Jason's media room, and Ianto had learned that the pair had been settled together, posing as a married couple, just outside of Denver. Owen worked as a medical consultant, Tosh did some contract work for Lockheed Martin, and they had a little home in a pocket valley with no near neighbors. It was a quieter life than they were used to, but it seemed to suit them both. Ianto remembered Tosh's blush and Owen's look of smug pride when Tosh stepped back from the camera to show off her expanding belly. He'd grinned with delight, and hinted that _Ianto_ would be an excellent name for a boy.

The reduced Torchwood team of Ianto, Jack, and Gwen were all getting by, but it had been a busy time. They had gone to Switzerland, and to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. They had also visited India where they met another of Jack's old flames (They were everywhere. Seriously.) Back in Cardiff they had defeated an alien out to ruin technology, united an alien seeking noise with an autistic boy who never stopped singing, and had survived Ianto being a woman for a week. They also fought off a zombie apocalypse, defeated giant bugs, and, more impressively, Ianto had helped a woman deliver a child. Amid all that, Ianto's favorite part was driving the ostensibly amphibious SUV out into the water and sinking it. There were apparently some kinks still to be worked out in the design.

Still, life was settling in to normal, for whatever normal meant to them. Until, suddenly, it wasn't anymore.

"Ianto, 999 has been called to the flat of Mr. Williams; you'd better grab the Tupperware." Jack called.

Ianto looked sadly down at the mug off coffee he wasn't going to get to finish before pulling a container off the shelf and following Jack to the SUV to collect an alien hitchhiker.

The day rapidly progressed from nearly mundane to bizarre even by Torchwood's standards. Something was causing children all over the world to go still and speak in unison, and now Jack had gone AWOL and Ianto was on his way to Jason's to see about 'borrowing' his daughter. The scene he walked into was unlike any had ever seen within his guardian's home.

Children were everywhere. A child who looked about four ran by Ianto. He had what appeared to be one of the living room curtains tied around his neck. Following behind him was a frantic looking woman.

"Jamie, don't run dear," she yelled as she passed Ianto.

Ianto walked into the living room to find more children these had pulled pillows off the couch and seemed to be taking turns jumping onto them. Another group had pulled all the books off of one of Jason's shelves and were building them into a tower.

"What the hell?" Ianto asked Adrian, surveying the scene of barely controlled chaos.

"Jason's changing careers, we've become a daycare," Adrian deadpanned. He then turned back to Melody who he had been talking to. "Get them into the safe rooms. There are three here and there are two at the Victorian place."

"Do you know for how long? They'll all be reported missing by their parents. Twenty children missing from the Cardiff area is going to attract some attention."

"I suspect the police will be occupied with other things. Now get it done, the minister wants them all safe and sound within the hour."

Melody nodded. She bent down to pick up a toddler who was resting at her legs, then quickly made her way out of the room, herding children as she went.

"Sorry," Adrian said finally giving Ianto his attention. "I like children okay, but this was just too much for me." he flopped down on a nearby couch and then shot back up quickly when he realized he had sat on a juice box. "Have a seat," he groaned looking behind him at his white jeans that now had a nice purple stain on them. He sighed and then looked back at Ianto.

"I assume this is related to the… thing?" Ianto asked, referring to the recent odd behavior of children. He glanced at the couch for anything that might be unpleasant to sit on, then sat down on it and surveyed the disarray surrounding him.

Adrian nodded. "Yes. Jason and Iden should be back any moment; they had to kidnap an infant from the hospital. It's a lot harder to do than it used to be."

"I can imagine," Ianto deadpanned.

Adrian looked up at him and grinned. "We try to avoid it as much as possible, of course. Only when necessary for the child's safety."

Ianto nodded in understanding.

"Life would be a lot simpler if babies came out walking," Jason grumbled walking into the room.

Iden followed behind him holding a newborn to his chest. "I love them at this age. They're so innocent and they don't judge. Just feed them and change their nappies and they're happy." Iden said, keeping his voice low least he wake the brand new rift child.

"They leak," Jason complained. He sat down next to Ianto on the couch and looked at Iden. "Okay, you promised me some answers. Can we discuss what's going on now?" Jason sighed.

Iden looked up and met Jason's eyes for a moment before his gaze drifted to his younger self. "The beginning of the end," he replied solemnly.

Ianto felt Jason's body stiffen next to him. "May I have some time alone with my charge?" he asked, his voice cracking slightly.

Ianto stared at his older self. He knew what Iden meant by 'the beginning of the end'. He was about to be relocated. He was about to face over a hundred years without Jack. He'd been thinking about that a lot recently, but what only occurred to him now was that he would also be without Jason for almost as long. He'd have no one.

Iden handed the baby to Adrian who stepped aside and looked away, giving them an almost private moment. Iden knelt down in front of his younger self. "You'll be fine." he whispered, then gently squeezed Ianto's hand and stood to take the child back from Adrian. As the two left the room together Ianto realized that this might the last time he would see his older self.

"We could run. I can protect you if we run." Jason said, his voice ragged with emotion.

Ianto looked over at his guardian and shook his head. "You didn't train me to be a coward."

Jason let out a sob. "No, I didn't."

Ianto turned his body and put and hand on Jason's face. "I'm not leaving you. I'm right in there, waiting for you. I know it seems like we aren't the same but we are. Everything that we've been through, you went through with him."

Jason put his hand over Ianto's. "Quit it, I'm supposed to be the one comforting you."

Ianto let out a small laugh and then his tears couldn't be held back any longer. "I'm not worried Jason, I'll be okay. I know it for a fact."

Jason let out a sigh, then suddenly pressed his lips against Ianto's. It wasn't a sexual kiss, but a soft comforting one. "I know I'm not supposed to have favorites, but you're my favorite out of all my charges."

Ianto smiled, "You're my favorite of all my guardians," he replied.

"I'm your only guardian," Jason grinned. He pulled Ianto into a tight embrace. "You better leave soon or I won't be able to let you go."

Ianto nodded and extracted himself from Jason's arms. "Hey I'll see you in about a minute." Ianto said, trying to stay brave.

"Yeah, I know." Jason grinned. "I love you, Ianto. I hope you know that."

"I love you too Jace," Ianto said then turned to leave before he begged for his guardian to save him from the unknown that was about to come.


	51. Chapter 51

AN: Okay, so this one is rather short. I know, I'm sorry. Taamar as usual did an amazing job (and really if it wasn't for her support I probably wouldn't be able to do the CoE episodes.) Anyway, we are coming to the end of this fic and I will soon be starting the sequel. I know you all want to know when Iden is going to break it to Jack and when you get to know. Unfortunately for all of you we won't be finding out yet. (Ianto has to wait and so do you) I know, I'm very cruel, but there is no rest for the wicked so that means you'll still be getting those frequent updates.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood

Spoilers: Day one Day Two and Day Three if you squint.

Warnings: angst… lot's of it.

Run. That was Ianto's only objective. Just run. The sound of gunshots had long faded in the distance, but still he ran, because if he stopped he would have to think about what was happening. If he stopped he would imagine his lover in pieces among the wreckage of the Hub. He let out a sob and finally could go on no longer. He didn't know what to do. He tried to set up a meeting spot with Gwen but it had been a failure. The last place they had eaten ice cream? Really, after two years working together she didn't know that he didn't eat ice cream? That was rubbish.

Ianto sat against the wall in a dark alleyway and rested his head on his knees, trying to get his breathing to return to normal.

"I was beginning to think the Iden was mistaken about the location," a French accent said out of nowhere.

Ianto looked up to see Adrian standing in front of him. "What are you doing here?"

"Helping you," Adrian smiled, holding out his hand, "Come on, there is a place near here where we can sleep."

Ianto nodded, accepting the hand and the help.

"You taught me everything there is to know about going 'underground' as you call it. Or will call it."

"He's in a million pieces. How will he come back from that?" Ianto asked, unable to banish Jack from his mind.

Adrian sighed and patted Ianto's back. "He'll be fine."

Ianto was led to a run-down flat with a grubby old mattress inside; Ianto didn't want to think about what kind of horrors had occurred on it. Adrian pulled a blanket out of his backpack and laid it over the thing. Ianto carefully lowered himself down onto it, wincing slightly. Adrian stretched out beside him.

"Will they be OK? The children, I mean?"

"The Rift Children? Iden has them all safe, and he's received word that the other Rift Leaders have secured theirs."

"What about the rest of them? The normal ones?"

"Iden says he doesn't know," Adrian said, looking away.

"Fuck."

"Yeah," Adrian replied.

"At least you won't have to put up with him being such a damned know-it-all for much longer," said Ianto with forced humor.

Adrian laughed. "That day will never come."

Ianto was silent for a moment, a small smile gracing his lips at Adrian's humor. It was short lived however, as his thoughts turned back to his impending death. "What's it like? When we die?"

"You'll see bright light. I thought I was going to heaven, anyway, the light engulfs you becomes part of you and soon it becomes so bright that all you see is white. It's beautiful, really," Adrian explained.

"That's not how Jack describes his deaths."

"Well Jack's not a Child, is he," Adrian teased.

"No, I don't know what Jack is. I don't even know what I am to him."

Adrian pushed up on his elbows. "It doesn't matter, you know. The names for relationships are just there to give us a sense of completion, a way of making order of the chaos we feel. But sometimes there aren't words that can describe them, they just are."

They were silent for a moment. Ianto wondered what his relationship with Adrian was called. Were they friends now? He then remembered how sad Adrian looked when Ianto had caught him crying, and felt a sense of protection for him. "Why were you crying the day I found out about Tosh and Owen? You promised you'd tell me."

"For you. Well, Iden."

"Why?"

"Sometimes Jason forgets that you and Iden are the same person. He says things that aren't true, that he doesn't mean, and it hurts Iden. And that hurts me."

"I see…" Ianto sighed, _great more heartbreak to look forward to_. He felt his eyelids becoming heavy and knew he would be asleep soon. He fought it.

"Ianto, I'm not going to be here when you wake up. You're to go to the Plass and get the plate number of the car that takes Jack, then make your way to the park where you broke your leg and see your sister. Iden gave the paper boy a letter to deliver to her yesterday, so she knows to meet you there. She'll give you a laptop and the keys to Johnny's car. You go save Jack, and you stay with him until the end. Got it?"

"Yeah," Ianto answered trying to sound brave. They were silent for a moment and then Ianto couldn't hold in his tears anymore. He felt Adrian's arm drape around him. The Frenchman than softly hummed a lullaby Ianto's mum used to sing to him, and Ianto drifted into sleep still able to feel Jack's lips on his own and hoping he was able to save Jack as Adrian had instructed him to do. .

TW-TW-TW

Adrian was true to his word, when Ianto woke he was gone. Ianto stripped the blanket from the tattered mattress, folded it, put it in the backpack Adrian had left for him, then slung the bag over his shoulder and made his way back towards the remnants of the Hub.

His stomach rumbled as he climbed to the roof of a nearby building. He sat down where he could view the clean-up going on down below and opened the bag. There were two bottles of water and two protein bars inside. He ate one of the bars and drank half a bottle of water before pulling a pair of binoculars out of the bag and grabbing a pen from his jacket pocket.

Through the binoculars he watched as the workers below found pieces of his lover. It sickened him, but Ianto watched as small bits of Jack were gathered, bagged and loaded into the back of a black SUV labeled 'Private Ambulance'. He wrote the plate number on the back of his hand and turned away. He still had to meet his sister, likely for the last time.

Two hours had passed by the time he reached the park. He had drunk most of his water but the last protein bar was still there; he was saving it. He hoped that Rhi would pack him some sort of food in Johnny's car. His sister had been visibly shaken at Ianto's disheveled state, but otherwise kept her cool. When the children in the park started chanting in unison again Ianto knew he had to go. Ianto said goodbye to his sister and took Johnny's car and drove to a safe spot to use the laptop.

He parked the car at a quarry near the facility and walked the rest of the way. He sat on a hill and used his binoculars to see the building. He wished he could get the blueprints of the place, but his sister's laptop had lost power. Turns out he didn't need them, anyway. He saw a woman standing guard as a concrete truck filled a cell, he recognized her from the site of the Hub. She must be in charge. He heard Jacks screams and wanted to kill this cruel woman, but at least she had inadvertently showed him what he needed to do.

It didn't take Ianto long to formulate a plan. Truth be told, he was a bit chuffed about it because not only did he get to wear a new hat, but he also got to drive a giant yellow forklift. It got even better when he saw Gwen and Rhys infiltrate the building; he would get to rescue three for the price of one. Well, three and a half if you counted the mini Williams that Gwen was carrying. As silver linings went it was a nice bonus.

Ripping the concrete block out of the building was exciting, but as Ianto tipped the block over the edge of the quarry he hesitated, remembering what the concrete contained. It was the only way, though. Decisively, he jerked the control lever and saw the block tumble, then shatter. They raced to the quarry floor, and when Ianto set eyes on Jack all in one piece it took everything he had not to run and embrace the man.

"Whose car is this," Jack asked when they were safely on their way towards London.

"My brother-in-law's," Ianto replied he pulled a pair of track bottoms out of the bag Adrian had given him. "I'm afraid this is all I've got in the way of clothing, sir."

Jack made a face but took the garment nonetheless. "That's quite a cut you've got, Ianto. It's going to be a very sexy scar. Rakish."

Ianto gave the man a half smile, then turned his attention to everyone in the car. "We should find somewhere to hunker down for the night, and I think I may know a place we can use as a base. We'll check it out tomorrow."

The building Ianto had remembered was an old Torchwood warehouse, unused for over a decade. It wasn't glamorous but it did have more than one room, so Jack and Ianto got to be alone. Not that they did anything but hold each other and sleep, but for Ianto that was all that was needed. He ran his fingers across his cheek and knew time was short. He didn't intend to waste a second.


	52. Chapter 52

AN:I am so glad to be finished with this emotional chapter. This is the last one, but the sequel will be up very soon so don't despair. Here is a little note from my wonderful beta.

Taamar's Self-indulgent Beta Note:

And here we are. I came late to this story, and I wanted to send out thanks. Gratitude goes to the brilliant author, and to Inusagi, whose hard work I appreciate even more now that I understand what it entails. But, most importantly, I want to thank the readers. Your appreciation and feedback mean the world. It's been an honor and a privilege to be a part of this; I look forward to seeing you all in the next series. Gael ffydd.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.

Spoilers: Day 3 and Day 4

Warnings: Slash, character death.

Ianto and Jack woke early the following morning. Sleeping on the concrete floor was anything but comfortable, but Ianto had no desire to move just yet; he was in Jack's arms, where we wanted to stay for the rest of his life. He didn't think that was asking too much.

"Come on, sleeping beauty, let's get a move on," Jack whispered with his lips in Ianto's hair.

"Don't wanna," Ianto pouted.

"Okay, we'll just stay here forever then."

"Sounds like a good plan. Let someone else save the world for a change."

"Yeah," Jack sighed.

They were both up and stretching with in four minutes.

"Jack, there are a few children I really care about. You'll do everything possible to keep them safe won't you?"

Jack narrowed his eyes. "_We_ will do everything possible to keep them safe," he emphasized.

Ianto nodded, "Of course."

TW-TW-TW

Ianto wasn't surprised by the team's lack of enthusiasm when it came to the abandoned warehouse that he was referring to as 'Hub Two'; it wasn't much, after all, just an empty shell. Still, Rhys had managed to start a fire, and that helped. Jack had attempted to give a heartfelt 'If we stick together we can accomplish anything' speech, but when he mentioned Gwen's 'condition' she and Rhys began to argue. As they stormed off together Ianto saw Jack smirk. He'd done it on purpose, the devious bastard. Anything to get the fire back.

Later, as they took inventory of their assets, Gwen came up with a plan: theft, petty and otherwise. She preened as she explained that, as a former policewoman, she knew all the tricks. Ianto let her have the moment. He was far too caught up in his own thoughts to care much about Gwen.

While the others focused on getting the things they'd need to do their jobs Ianto focused on what he did best: making sure the basic needs were taken care of. Creature comforts, he called it. He also purchased a suit for himself and clothing for both Rhys and Gwen. He lucked upon an army surplus store and picked up Jack's favored RAF kit, complete with the coat. He knew Jack would feel more himself in uniform, and they needed Jack in top form.

Across from the surplus store Ianto spotted an antique shop. In the window there was a nice silver rattle. Ianto went in and purchased it; he wanted to give baby Williams something. As is common with antiques, the rattle had been engraved, but at least the name, Anwyn, was a proper Welsh name.

The power to the warehouse came on just as Ianto returned; Jack had been busy, and clearly knew a thing or two about the city's infrastructure, and it would take days before they could trace the power draw on the grid to them. This thing would be over long before it became a problem. And although they did give him hell for being away so long they were all grateful for Ianto's purchases. Gwen and Rhys had been pleased enough with their clothing, but Jack's transformation had been profound: he changed almost immediately, becoming Captain Jack Harkness once again. Ianto decided it was true what they said: clothes do make the man.

"Thank you Ianto," Gwen whispered later, leaning down next to where Ianto was working on a computer.

"For?" Ianto asked.

"The rattle. You're a sweetheart, whether you want us to know or not."

"I wanted the baby to have something from me, in case…"

"Don't you dare talk like that. We've made it this far, there won't be any casualties. Especially not you; Jack needs you."

The two were silent for a moment as Ianto attempted to hack into the Torchwood software. The Hub may have been destroyed, but the servers should have survived.

"Ianto, you remember the day you showed me around the hub for the first time?" Gwen said casually.

Ianto nodded.

"You reminded me of someone else, a guy I met while I was with the director of that home for wayward teens. I blew it off because there were some differences, figured maybe you were related."

Ianto tried to pretend he didn't know what she was talking about.

"Thing is, Ianto, the scar on your cheek matches that man's. That man looked like you. The you now, though, not the you I first met. Weird, yeah?"

"Hmm…" Ianto replied feigning indifference as he frantically tried to think of how to deflect.

"Ianto, if I've learned anything at Torchwood it's not to believe in coincidence."

Fuck deflection, it was time for a frontal assault. "Gwen, listen to me carefully. This is really not the time to have a discussion about some bloke you saw when you were plastered and having a one-night stand."

Gwen narrowed her eyes. "Okay, fine," she said sounding annoyed, but thankfully dropping the conversation.

They were in. Jack had 'broken in' to the Torchwood servers, giving them access to all the special software they'd acquired over the years. And then Gwen had another idea. All she had to do was convince her contact inside Whitehall to commit treason while wearing special contact lenses. Just a normal Torchwood errand, it seemed. While she was out Ianto tried to find out everything he could about Clement MacDonald and set up the facial recognition software to search the CCTV feeds for him. The man was involved somehow, Ianto could feel it.

"Frobisher's the key to this. He's just a civil servant, he's nothing. What makes him start authorizing executions?" Jack said.

Talk of executions made Ianto once again think of his own upcoming death. Would it be painful, he wondered? "What did it feel like? I mean, getting blown up," he asked Jack after a moment of silence.

"It wasn't the best of days," Jack replied, obviously not comfortable discussing it.

"No, but... did you feel it? Or did everything just go black?" Ianto pushed.

"I felt it," Jack answered simply.

"Shit," Ianto exclaimed looking back at his computer.

"Yeah," Jack agreed.

"Do you ever think that, one day, your luck will run out? That you won't come back," Ianto asked. He had always wondered.

"I'm a fixed point in time and space. That's what the Doctor says. I think that means it's forever," Jack explained.

That's what Jack was to Ianto. His fixed point. "So... one day, you'll see me die. And just keep going," Ianto continued.

"Yeah," Jack answered sadly.

"We better make the most of it, then," Ianto said with a tiny smile. The conversation had become entirely too heavy, and he didn't want Jack to brood.

"Suppose," Jack grinned turning back to his computer.

"Like right now?" Ianto suggested hopefully.

"Ianto, the world could be ending," Jack said though his grin was bigger now.

"World's always ending, and I have missed that coat," the Welshman pointed out.

"Rhys, do you wanna take the car and go to those shops, down by the Wharf? We need some disks for these things. Should take about... twenty minutes?" Jack yelled back at Rhys, who seemed to be cooking.

"Thirty minutes," Ianto interjected.

"Thirty," Jack corrected.

"I'll go later, the beans are almost done!" Rhys replied.

"The beans are almost done," Jack told Ianto.

"Bloody beans," Ianto sighed.

Focusing on work once again, Ianto saw that the software had found Clement MacDonald, and while Gwen retrieved the man from the police station they continued to research him. Something in the history made Jack ask about the others who had been killed the day the Hub blew up, and the connections unraveled. Jack rushed out with no explanation.

Every child in the world pointed towards London, the aliens came down, and Jack Harkness was nowhere to be found.

TW-TW-TW

Ianto lay down with a sigh on the small piece of ground that he was considering his sleeping space. Jack lay down beside him.

"Thanks for being there when I came back," Jack said referring to earlier in the evening when Jack had died after Clem had shot him.

"I hate it when you die," Ianto pouted wrapping his arms around Jack and laying his head on the man's chest. There were so many things he wanted and needed to discuss with Jack, but at the moment he just wanted to hold him. Ianto sighed against the immortal's chest and ran a hand over the spot the bullet had penetrated.

"It's no fun for me, either. But I always come back."

Ianto nodded. "I'd wait forever for you Jack. Until the end of everything." Jack may have taken the words for a lover's exaggeration, but Ianto said them with utter sincerity.

"I'd do the same for you," Jack replied.

Ianto rose up so he was hovering above Jack. "Let's make this one of those moments," he pleaded and then pressed his lips to the older man's gently. Jack returned the kiss; it was slow and tender, but burning with need. Ianto started to undo the buttons of Jack's shirt, needing that skin to skin contact. This was it. The last time. In his heart he knew it, and he wanted to savor it.

Ianto pulled back from the kiss and took in Jack's face, trying to commit it all to memory just as Jack had done to him before. He finished with the buttons of Jack's shirt and began to kiss his way down the man's chest, breathing in Jack's unique scent. Tears threatened, but he kept his attention focused on the man beneath him. Ianto unfastened Jack's trousers and Jack raised his hips so Ianto could slide them down, freeing his erection. Ianto continued his path of kisses downward until he nuzzled Jack's cock. He took it into his mouth, wanting to memorize this, too. The warmth, the taste, the way Jack shuddered when Ianto took him deep, these things were precious. Ianto moved to kiss Jack hard on the mouth, their tongues tangling as they ground together in desire.

Jack let out a small sob and flipped their positions. He reached for Ianto's waistband. "These clothes need to go," Jack breathed out.

Ianto couldn't agree more. They stripped out of their remaining clothing, not taking their eyes off each other. They came back together as soon as the clothes were all piled on the floor beside them. Jack hovered over Ianto and captured his lips again. The kiss was slow and perfect. Hands caressed and bodies writhed.

"Please, Jack, I need you inside me," Ianto pleaded.

"We don't have any-"

"Coat pocket. Creature comforts."

"You're brilliant." Jack grinned, retrieving the lube.

With slick fingers Jack prepared Ianto, both men trembling with unspoken emotion. Jack entered the Welshman slowly, as if they had all the time in the world, an eternity of bliss. They moved against each other slowly, kissing, grasping, and murmuring words of affection. Completion built up within them, and they came together, Ianto sobbing Jack's name. He would remember this for a century. _The last time_, he thought, and the tears he'd been fighting finally broke free.

"Hey, it's OK," Jack said softly, "Everything will be OK." Jack kissed the tears from Ianto's cheek and held the man close. Ianto wished it were true. He didn't want to be without Jack.

"You should get a few hours of sleep," Jack whispered as they lay in the afterglow.

"You need some too," Ianto insisted.

Jack increased his grip around Ianto. "I'll stay with you until you fall asleep."

TW-TW-TW

"This must have been eating away at you," said Ianto. It was time to discuss the twelve children from 1965. Jack remained silent. "Why didn't you tell me? I could've helped."

Jack shook his head. "No, you couldn't."

"I tell you everything." Ianto lied.

Jack looked at Ianto in disbelief. "No you don't. You think I don't know that you keep things from me? Do you honestly think I'm that stupid? You're keeping something from me right now! And you want my secrets? What are _you_ hiding?"

Ianto bit his lip but otherwise made no movement; he couldn't bring himself to tell Jack now, even if it was a coward's way out.

Jack let out a sigh, "Ianto, tell me, what should I have done?"

"Stood up to them," Ianto replied simply, "The Jack I know would've stood up to them. I've only just scraped the surface, haven't I?"

"Ianto, that's all there is."

"No. You pretend that's all there is."

"And so do you!" Jack growled, "I have lived a long time—I have done a lot of things. I've got to go, I won't be long." He turned his back on Ianto to walk away.

"You're doing it again. Speak to me, Jack. Where are you going?"

Jack turned to look at Ianto. "To call Frobisher. I can't call him from here, 'cause they'd be able to trace it. Is that okay?"

"You're the boss," Ianto replied dryly.

"And just so you know, I have a daughter called Alice and a grandson called Steven, and Frobisher took them hostage yesterday," Jack added before storming out of the building and leaving Ianto. Again.

TW-TW-TW

It was unbelievable. The aliens, the 456, wanted ten percent of the Earth's children. Worse, the leaders of the world were going to just hand them over. They had exempted their own children and chosen the 'most expendable'. Well, Torchwood wasn't going to let that stand. Torchwood wasn't going to give them even one child, not after what Jack had been though.

"Let's go stand up to them," Jack said, as he and Ianto loaded their weapons.

"Yes, sir."

Ianto gathered his courage. If this was to be the end, and he knew it was, then he wanted to make it worth it. He called his sister to warn her, and to say his last goodbyes. For good measure, he warned the surveillance team listening in as well; the more he could save, the better. As they walked toward Thames House, Ianto saw Iden standing with Jason and Adrian on either side. They stood, seemingly impassive, but Ianto could see the reflection of tears on Adrian's face, the tightening of Jason's fist at his side, and knew this was their final salute. He met Iden's eyes briefly, and nodded. Ianto found it strangely liberating.

Ianto stood next to Jack facing the tank that held the 456.

"I'm Captain Jack Harkness. I've dealt with you lot before. I'm here to explain why this time; you're not getting what you want." Jack began, not wasting anytime.

"You yielded in the past," the alien replied.

"And don't I know it. I was there. In 1965, I was part of that trade, and that's why I'm never going to let it happen again."

"Explain."

"There's a saying here on Earth, a very old, very wise friend of mine taught me it: an injury to one is an injury to all. And when people act according to that philosophy, the human race is the finest species in the Universe."

Ianto couldn't help but roll his eyes. Jack never said anything the easy way, "Never mind the philosophy. What he's saying is you're not getting one solitary, single child. The deal is off," he interjected.

"Uh, I like the philosophy," Jack smiled at Ianto.

"I gathered," Ianto deadpanned.

"You yielded in the past. You will do so, again," the alien insisted.

"In the past, the numbers were so small they could be kept secret, but this time, that is not going to happen. Because we've recorded everything. All the negotiations. Everything the politicians said. Everything that happened in this room. And those tapes will be released to the public. Unless you leave this planet for good," Jack informed the being.

"You yielded in the past. You will do so again," the alien repeated.

"When people find out the truth, you will have over six billion angry human beings taking up arms to fight you. That might be a fight you think you can win, but at the end of it, the human race, in defense of its children, will fight to the death. And if I have to lead them into battle, I will," Jack explained.

Ianto decided he'd had enough of being underestimated. He wanted the alien to know what it was up against. "You've got enough information on this planet. Check your records. His name is Captain Jack Harkness. Go back a hundred and fifty years and see what you're facing."

"The human infant mortality rate is 29,158 deaths per day. Every three seconds, a child dies. The human response is to accept, and adapt," the alien mused.

"We're adapting right now, and we're making this a war," Jack declared.

"Then the fight begins," the alien said.

"We're waiting for your reply," Jack informed the creature.

"Action has been taken."

Alarms sounded throughout Thames House as it went into lockdown.

"What have you done?" Jack breathed.

"You wanted a demonstration of war. A virus has been released. It will kill everyone in the building."

Jack run from the room, but Ianto remained where he was, feeling oddly calm. This was it. His final moments in his first life. He cocked his gun and aimed it at the 456's tank.

"If there's a virus, then there must be an antivirus. Release it now, or I'll blow a hole in that tank, and we'll all die together," He said calmly, knowing it would do him no good but trying nonetheless to save everyone else in the building.

Jack came back to the room. "You made your point, now stop this and we can talk," his voice was rushed and frantic.

"You are dying, even now," announced the alien.

Both men fired uselessly at the tank.

Jack put his hands on Ianto's shoulders and turned him toward him. "We've got to get you out of here. I can survive anything, but you can't!"

"Too late. I've breathed the air," Ianto replied. He could already feel himself becoming weak.

"There's got to be something—there's got to be an antidote!" Jack insisted.

"You said you would fight," the 456 said.

"Then I take it back, alright? I take it all back—but not him!" Jack shouted at the tank.

Ianto fell to his knees. He wanted to fight it. He wasn't ready.

"No! No no no no no no no—no! No. Ianto. No, no, no…" Jack cried, cradling the Welshman close. "It's all my fault."

"No it's not," Ianto insisted.

"Don't speak, save your breath."

"I love you," Ianto sobbed, unable to hide that truth any longer.

Jack shook his head, "Don't." he begged.

Ianto's eyelids became heavy and he let them shut. Jack shook him slightly. "Ianto. Ianto? Ianto, stay with me. Ianto, stay with me please—stay with me, stay with me, please!" Jack pleaded.

"Hey. It was—good, yeah?" Ianto said, opening his eyes again.

"Yeah," Jack agreed

"It won't be long for you, Jack. You'll be okay."

"Never, not without you," Jack cried.

"I promised I'd wait forever for you," Ianto sighed. He had no more energy and no more strength.

"Ianto. Ianto? Don't go. Don't leave me, please. Please, don't…" Jack cried.

With Jacks voice echoing in his mind, Ianto faded into blinding white.


	53. Chapter 53

Hey Guy and Gals,

I've started the sequel. It's called Ianto Jones Leader of the Rifts. Just in case you havn't seen it yet. Here is a little taste of the first chapter.

**Earth 1852 Somewhere in America.**

Ianto let out a little squeal and fell to his knees. The white light was gone and had been replaced with a dark night. The Welshman had to admit that it was a lot better than when he appeared after his first death, but his first death was a lot less painful than his second death, so he supposed it averaged out. He shook his head and tried not to think about it.

He got to his feet and looked up into the night sky and was relieved to see the familiar constellations. He was on Earth, no doubt about that. He wept with joy. God, after twenty years in space he didn't want to ever get on a spaceship again, or another alien planet, for that matter. Yep, Ianto Jones was going to make a point to keep his feet on the surface of Earth.

"You're the man," Ianto heard a familiar voice say. In French. Ianto looked back down and his eyes met a welcome familiar face: Adrian. He was naked, but so was Ianto. No need for modesty between them, anyway.

"Is that a saying already?" Ianto asked in French. He was going to have to teach the man English.

"Someone killed me." Adrian sobbed, dropping to his knees, "I died, I felt the air leave me. And then there was light. The light was surrounding me,"

Ianto fell into the role of a comforting friend and knelt in front of Adrian. "Yes, that happened, but you are safe now. Never again will you be forced to let anyone touch you."

"Is this heaven?"

"Nope, if I remember my conversation with you correctly this is Nevada, or will be Nevada. Oh, we're going to have to run from Native Americans, but don't worry, it'll be fun. I remember that." Ianto explained, getting up off the ground and pulling Adrian with him.

Adrian gave him a look of pure confusion. Ianto laughed, remembering how Iden's rambling had irritated him. And now he was doing it! He wondered if it was the effect of having far too many memories in one's brain; he could remember Jack doing the same thing. _Jack._ What year had he come back? What year was it now? Was Jack out in the world somewhere right now? Ianto pushed the thoughts aside for more practical matters.

"Okay, let's go find some clothes, and then we will sit down and I will explain the whole thing to you. Or, well, some of it. I can't tell you all of it, where's the adventure in that?"

Adrian gave a small smile but didn't speak.

Ianto looked around them and caught site of a glow in the distance, possibly a bonfire. "I think we may be able to get some clothing if we head that way. It won't be like going to a Dunelm Mill but it'll do." He grabbed Adrian's hand and they began to walk towards the glow.

Next thing Ianto knew they were running from the Native Americans. He couldn't think of a better way to start this life than running at the side of a man he knew he could trust. When they knew they were safe they fell to the ground laughing as they put on their stolen clothes.

AN: There is more... You just have to go to my stories page and then you can read it, and follow it, and review it. :)


End file.
